THE SECRET DEVICE
by J7339
Summary: FINAL CHAPTER POSTED
1. A FIST FULL OF DOLLARS

**THE SECRET DEVICE**

**By Jules**

**This story takes place in the second series with the exception of Kristen Westphalen. **

**The scenes of this story come from a lot of different places, some SeaQuest, others not. Some you will recognize – others you won't. Just a mix up of things and people really.**

**Enjoy.**

**CHAPTER 1: _A FIST FULL OF DOLLARS_  
**

Lucas had come aboard the SeaQuest from his leave grinning like a Cheshire cat. The various crew members that saw him just thought that he had a good break and was looking forward to seeing Captain Bridger again.

The smile on the young man's face however was for a totally different reason. Lucas had something to celebrate. He was in the process of selling his latest technological breakthrough to a group of scientists for a lot of money. They had all been blown away by his newest invention that put artificial intelligence right back up into the number one place for discoveries.

Problem was, except for Lucas and a handful of those scientists, nobody else knew about it yet and probably wouldn't for a few months to come. There were reasons for this. The technology was so advanced from anything that was currently on the market that some testing had to be carried out before public endorsement would be forthcoming.

Lucas had been a little disappointed that he had to keep his invention secret for a few more months. He had been itching to show the Captain and some of the other crew members aboard the SeaQuest before it went to the public. Now it didn't look like that was going to happen. He had been told that he would be contacted by e-mail when the testing was complete and the sponsors were ready for a demonstration.

That at least would be up to Lucas. The teenage had made sure that he didn't give all the secrets of his new toy away. He was the only one who knew how it worked and he wasn't about to tell these group of scientists before he got his big chance.

Now he sat down on his bunk after stowing his gear and sat counting over $500 he had stashed in his wallet at the moment.  
He had been given a hefty bonus after his initial meeting, most of the money had ended up in his bank account, but he had  
kept more than normal to buy Bridger a birthday present. He didn't know what yet, but he wanted it to be something  
worthwhile.

Tony Piccolo walked in just as he saw Lucas putting the large wad of bills back into his wallet.

"Good for a loan by the looks of it huh, Luke," Piccolo announced as he walked into their small and cramped quarters,  
throwing his old beaten up duffle bag on the bottom bunk.

Something he had yet to turn around in this place, but he would have to bide his time. Lucas wasn't about to give him the top bunk simply at his request. Begging and pleading hadn't worked either. Looks like it was up to the old Tony Piccolo charm to work for a few weeks and then get under the boy's skin with over-niceties.

"You wish, Tony," Lucas shot back. "It's for a birthday present for the Captain. I just haven't worked out what to get him yet."

"Been raiding the National Bank too I see," Tony said, now commenting on the amount of money he could see in the kid's  
possession. He was certain Bridger would have been happy with any little trinket, as long as it was from Lucas.

The youth had pride of place in the older man's heart and everybody aboard the SeaQuest wouldn't have had it any other way.  
Lucas loved Bridger and the Captain made no secret of his love for Lucas. It was unconditional and shown freely.

"Just a few extra dollars for his present," Lucas replied, not wanting to go into depths about where the extra money came  
from. When he was aboard the submarine, the teenager hid his financial status away from the crew as much as he could. The  
Captain had money, almost everybody knew this and the man was willing to spent any he could on Lucas.

But Lucas had a lot of money hidden away that the rest of the crew, not even Captain Bridger knew about. Lucas didn't know  
how people would react towards him if they found out he had a lot of money. Most of it earned by himself, but a lot of money none-the-less. Enough for many rainy days to come.

Money did strange things to people sometimes, even friends, and so Lucas didn't tell them because he didn't want anything  
changing between him and the crew of the SeaQuest.

"Do you need a personal body guard to help you walk around the ship?" Tony now joked.

"Um, no thanks Tony, but I'll let you know if I do," Lucas laughed. Piccolo was always going out of his way to cheer the  
teenager up. Lucas was grateful, but didn't necessarily say so in so many words.

"I'm going to find the Captain," Lucas said as he prepared to leave his quarters.

"See you later, Tony," he said cheerfully, climbing the small staircase to the hatchway door.

"Yeah, see ya," Tony answered and left the room himself to go and find Miguel and some of the others to find out  
what they had gotten up to on their break.

At this stage Tony was none the wiser about something being amiss with his roommate. Lucas was always a little stand-offish and secretive and today was no different that he could see.

* * *

**In a different part of the SeaQuest**

"You know what you have to do?" came the voice from a shadowy figure on a pocket communicator.

"Yeah, I know what I have to do," Riley replied, his gaze darting around to make sure no one was taking particular  
notice of him.

The small time thug had been paid a lot of money by a third party to sneak aboard the U.E.O.'s flagship and get the secret  
device off the inventor. He had been told to use any methods he chose, so long as it didn't involve killing the kid. For the  
moment, they needed the kid alive, just until they worked out how to work his new little gadget. Once that was done, he  
wouldn't be required any further. For now, they just had to get the device away from him.

Getting aboard the ship had been easier than he had first thought. He just blended himself in with the new influx of  
crew members for this tour of duty. He had been given a UEO uniform so his clothing just matched everybody  
else's. He had been given false documentation and photograph identification to flash at any would be check-point.

All he had to do was show it from a distance away. If the wrong person took too long to scrutinize the validly of his ID,  
then his game could be uncovered and foiled.

Riley had walked past the security checks and had even gotten himself assigned to a room aboard the boat. He had been  
stowing his gear away when it looked clear enough to contact his employer and go over the plan again.

He pulled out a small pocket size photo of his intended target and gazed at it long enough to become familiar with the  
person should he see him on the boat.

Riley hadn't worked out how to get the device away from the young man yet but he assumed it wouldn't be terribly  
difficult to do so. He would just have to bide his time and take the opportunity when it presented itself. Hopefully he  
would be able to lure the kid away from the rest of the crew long enough to over power him and just take the secret  
device.

As soon as he had it all he had to do was steal a shuttle back to the surface and his job would be complete until further advised.  
He had brought a few necessities of the trade aboard in case his target proved a little more difficult and tried to make a fuss.

"Make sure you get it right," came the first voice on the communicator. "We don't want him dead yet, just take the device without him knowing and get off as soon as you can. If they become privy to you, your on your own and you will just have to work out how to get off yourself. Once you have the device, you are to deliver it to me and then you will receive your bonus," the man continued.

"Gotta go," the Riley quickly said and stashed his communicator in under his clothes as his room-mate now re-entered the room.

"Hi," said the new sailor who was sharing the room.

"Hey," Riley said back and smiled a fake grin just to keep up appearances.

The other sailor quickly left the room, giving him a chance to gather his thoughts before heading out of the room himself.

* * *

Riley was ready to begin the search for his intended victim. How many 18 year old kids could be on this hunk of metal  
anyway he asked himself under his breath. He carried in his pocket a thin piece of metal rod, just right for hitting a certain  
intended teenager over the head before taking his secret device. At the moment it was neatly concealed away, with nobody  
on board the wiser about his true identity or true objective.

For the next hour Riley wandered about the SeaQuest trying to become familiar with the various corridors and rooms in case  
he needed to remember them later on. He came across the Moon Pool with the dolphin and actually thought he might be  
lucky enough to spot the boy here.

No such luck though, unbeknown to man that Lucas was still visiting the Captain in his cabin about that time. Riley walked past the Bridge but knew that was a place of limits to someone carrying his lowly ranking. The teenager didn't seem to be there either.

Riley had been hoping that things would work out a little smoother and he would be able to find the elusive teenager and  
take the device from him before they even shoved off. That way he wouldn't even need to worry about stealing a shuttle to the surface.

About half way through his search of the submarine though he felt the distinct revving of the engines and felt the soft motion begin that signalled that they had indeed broken away from the dock at UEO headquarters. He grumbled to himself that it now made extra work for him as he continued his searching for Lucas.

"Coming to join us for lunch, Lucas?" Tony Piccolo yelled back at the teenager as Riley walked towards the back of the  
submarine. He quickly stole himself away in one of the side corridor to conceal his presence. He grinned widely as he  
heard Lucas's reply.

"In a minute Tony, I just want to check something. I promised I would meet the Captain in the mess for lunch anyway.  
See you shortly," Lucas arranged as he headed in one direction and Piccolo in the other.

Things couldn't have worked out better for Riley. There weren't too many other crew members about at the moment. Once the coast was clear enough he quickly and quietly started off after Lucas, just reaching inside the pocket of his uniform as he saw the teenager just ahead of himself.

Lucas had turned around briefly, thinking that somebody was behind him. He couldn't see anybody though and shrugged  
his shoulders and turned back to his work telling himself that he was hearing things. His mind was very much on other  
things at the moment.

The next thing Lucas heard was the sound of his own voice as he let out a loud groan as Riley clubbed him from behind with the piece of metal on the back of his head.

Lucas was driven to his knees and reached up to bring his hand away covered in blood before collapsing to the cold  
metal grate floor and losing consciousness, falling face first onto the cold metal grate floor of the corridor. The injured boy didn't hear Riley swear viciously as he dragged the teenager into the small room away from prying eyes.

With Lucas now unconscious, Riley knew he had to work quickly, knowing the teenager would soon be missed. He reached  
in various pockets on the young man and found the wallet of money Lucas had been carrying around with him. He kept looking for the small device that he knew would be no bigger than a microchip. His wallet would be the natural hiding place for something so small.

Riley began to get angry though once he couldn't find it. He tried shaking the boy awake to ask him where the device was, but could only growl angrily with frustartion when the teenager failed to respond. At this stage the kid hadn't seen who had struck him with the piece of metal. The man was confident that he wouldn't be able to be identified and therefore could still remain on the ship to complete the task.

He found Lucas's $500.00 and pocketed the paper money. Riley looked at the wallet and knew that it would be better  
to throw cause to the idea that Lucas had been bashed to rob him of his money. He casually looked and made sure  
the corridor outside was clear. The man then calmly walked out of the room and casually dropped the wallet in the middle on  
the corridor on the floor where it wouldn't be missed.

He kept cursing under his breath as he walked away, knowing that his objective hadn't been achieved. He would need  
to make another attempt to find the device. The next time he promised his young victim would at least be conscious enough  
to answer some questions. Riley told himself that he would have to make sure that a plan of escape in the shuttle was ready  
to execute, intending to use the young inventor as a hostage to get off SeaQuest.

That way he would kill two birds with one stone. One, he would have the secret device and Two, although he had been told to  
wait for further instructions, he would have the young inventor to go with it. Of course he would be demanding sufficient ransom and compensation for the young man before handing the boy over to his employer. He wasn't going to let Sykes hold all of the cards.

* * *

Bridger was now walking along the corridor of the SeaQuest, questioning Tony Piccolo about where Lucas was.

"I thought you said he would only be a few minutes," Bridger said to Tony. It had been over an hour since Piccolo had said he would wait for the teenager in the mess hall. Lucas still hadn't shown up for his lunch and nobody had seen him since.

"That's what he said but you know what he is like when he gets involved with something, Captain," Tony said, trying  
to douse any real concerns Bridger had about Lucas's current whereabouts.

"Where is that boy?" Bridger asked, more worried than annoyed. Although it was like Lucas to skip meals like Tony  
said, it wasn't like the youth to not meet somebody when he had arranged it.

Bridger's attention was now drawn to something laying on the metal grate floor not far in front of him. Piccolo saw it too and both of them walked over to it before Bridger picked it up and looked at it.

It was a wallet, that much was certain. Bridger turned the opened leather wallet over and now stared down at the smiling face of Lucas Wolenczak on his driver's license photo. The Captain had a confused look on his face. Where was Lucas and why was his wallet laying in the middle of the corridor? He looked about but there was no sign of the teeanger nearby.

Bridger didn't want to pry to much into Lucas's personal affects, but carefully opened the wallet's money compartment  
to see if there were any clues that might shed any light on the boy's whereabouts.

The Captain saw that there was only a couple of dollar bills inside, nothing to be suspicious about. The boy never seemed to have any money on him. He slipped in a couple of dollars every now and then, without Lucas's knoweldge so that he wouldn't look so poorly compared to the rest of the crew.

Tony's reaction however was a little more worrisome, as he had seen how much money Lucas had only about an hour earlier. The fact that the wallet was now laying out in the open for everybody to see and with very little money inside, didn't sit well. Lucas was still not to be seen anywhere and all sorts of alarm bells started off in Piccolo's mind.

"But he had a whole wad of money only a short time ago in his room," Tony stated to the Captain. "Lucas had  
over five hundred dollars on him when I saw him earlier."

"$500.00!" Bridger said with astonishment. He had never known the kid to have that much money at any one time.

"Why did he have that much on him?" he asked Tony, fears of his own about Lucas's well-being now starting to creep  
into the back of his mind.

"Luke said he had it to buy you a birthday present, Sir," Tony informed him "He really did have a whole lot of money  
only a short time ago.

Bridger turned the wallet over once more, hoping it would hold the clue to Lucas's sudden disappearance. Something  
inside him told him that they needed to start looking for him, and right away.

* * *

Riley could be seen looking at Bridger and Tony from a short distance away.

"Lieutenant O'Neill, could you page Lucas for me please," Bridger now said into his own Pal. The Captain couldn't help but use a hurrying tone of voice.

"Is there something wrong, Sir?" Tim asked, not suspecting that anything had happened to their resident whiz kid  
so soon after returning from leave. Most of the crew had been happy enough to see him fit and well after the break.

"Just page him please, Tim," Bridger replied urgently.

Tony and the Bridger waited for what seemed forever as Tim did try and rouse Lucas over the PAL Communication  
system . "Mr Wolenczak please contact the Bridge please, Mr Wolenczak."

There was no response.

"Mr O'Neill I want every available crew member to start looking for Lucas. Something isn't right," Bridger now  
said and immediately started searching the area where he had found the discarded wallet. If Lucas did have a lot  
of money on him and someone accidentally saw him counting it, it didn't take much to work out what things could  
start to come into the mind of unscrupulous people.

Lucas did actually have his pager with him and had started to regain consciousness right about the time that Tim was paging him. The teenager was laying sprawled on the floor with the pager only a short distance in front of him. His hand slowly  
came out and tried to grab a hold of it to call for help.

No sooner had he reached out his hand to get close, the image now went out of focus and the pain in his head became increasingly worse. Lucas groaned out loud at the throbbing and dizziness in his head, the slight movement causing him to lose consciousness again, his hand still stretched out towards the PAL Communicator.

Piccolo and Bridger had searched the immediate corridor where the wallet had been found. Tony walked ahead of the Captain towards a small room that linked to the passageway, not knowing that Lucas lay inside. Tony had quickly ducked his head into the room, not expecting to find anything. He gasped out loud enough for Bridger to hear him though as he caught a glimpse of something laying on the floor inside.

"LUCAS!" Tony shouted and rushed into the room, the Captain only centimetres behind him. They both came across  
the unconscious teenager laying on the floor just inside the hatchway. Bridger now brushed his hand on the boy's blond hair  
and brought it away smeared in blood.

"Lucas, talk to me," Bridger said in a gentle but concerned voice, trying to rouse the teenager.

"This is Seaman Piccolo, I need a med unit to room 134 on Deck A35 now," Tony shouted into his own PAL communicator,  
alerting Doctor Westphalen and her crew that they were needed for a patient.

Bridger had still been trying to wake the teenager, but the lump he could feel on the back of Lucas's head suggested  
that he had taken a very hard blow to the back of his head and might not regain consciousness for sometime.

There were a million questions racing through their heads while waiting for Kristin and her medical team to arrive.  
Why was Lucas laying unconscious on the floor with a gash to his head? Who had struck him? Why?

Bridger rolled the teenager over carefully, checking for other signs of injury. Thankfully, it looked like the injury to the back of the young man's head was the only one sustained. It brought no comfort though as Lucas still lay pale and bleeding on the grate floor.

"What happened Nathan?" a voice came from the doorway, Bridger turned around to see Doctor Kristin Westphalen  
entering the room, surveying the scene before her. He could see the worry for Lucas clearly etched on her face. She had almost as many questions as Bridger himself but they needed to attend to Lucas's injuries first.

to be continued ...

Revised - taken out what spelling mistakes and errors that I could find - and added a little bit to the chapter.

Sorry nothing dramatic – just one of those bash Lucas up – kidnap Lucas – beat Lucas up some more stories – Oh that's  
right – they are the kind guys like ???????????

So what is going to happen to Lucas this time ?????????


	2. HEADACHES ALL ROUND

**THE SECRET DEVICE**

**By Jules**

**Chapter Two: REVISED - HEADACHES ALL ROUND  
**

Kristin put the medical bag she had brought beside the unconscious teenager. She rummaged around in it for a few  
seconds before pulling out a gauze pad.

Kristin now used the gauze pad to swab the laceration on the back of Lucas's head. It was still bleeding slowly,  
but most of the blood had congealed and dried, sticking the teenager's blond hair together in stiff clumps.

"Do you know how long he has been laying here?" she asked Tony and the Captain without taking her concentration  
away from her patient.

"Tony and I just found him here a few seconds ago," Bridger answered her question.

"Unfortunately he has got a nice large swelling happening here," Kristen said frowning a little as she conducted a more thorough examination of Lucas's head wound.

"Let's move him to another room where the lighting is better. I will be able to do a more thorough diagnosis," Kristen now  
suggested.

"Let's use my quarters, it is closer than Med Bay," Bridger offered. Neither Piccolo or the doctor was surprised by this idea.

"Help me carry him, Tony," Bridger said to Piccolo. Between them Tony lifted Lucas by his feet and legs while Bridger  
put gentle hands underneath the teenager's shoulders. The unconscious boy's head lolled to one side once they lifted him from the grate floor.

A few crew members whispered to each other and stopped in the corridor as they saw Lucas being carried from the room, down to the corridor a short distance to the Captain's quarters.

Commander Jonathan Ford had been travelling down the corridor for another purpose when he spotted his Commanding Officer and Piccolo carrying an unconscious Lucas. He had known about the search for the missing teenage computer whiz, but hadn't thought his absence had been serious enough to think that the boy had been injured in some way.

"Captain is Lucas alright?" Ford asked knowing the question sounded stupid.

"At the moment we don't know Commander. We just found him laying in one of the rooms unconscious. He has a gash  
to his head that is bleeding. I want to talk to you about conducting an investigation just as soon as we get Lucas settled  
and attended to," Bridger informed his second in charge.

"Who would want to hurt Lucas?" Ford asked with confusion on his face. He didn't know a soul on the boat who didn't like the young man. His laughter was infectious and his energy gave everybody a great lift when times aboard the vessel seemed long and tedious.

"I don't know, but I assure you I aim to find out," Bridger said in a stern voice.

Ford held back his questioning as he saw the Captain and Tony carry Lucas into the Bridger's quarters followed by  
doctor Kristin Westphalen. Once they went inside he headed back towards the bridge.

Firstly, to notify the senior crew that Lucas had been located but was injured and secondly to start the investigation that the Captain brief mentioned to find out what happened. They would probably have to wait until Lucas regained consciousness to gain any further information, but he would start where he could for now.

Tony and Bridger managed to manoeuvre the unconscious teenager into the thin doorway of the Captain's quarters and laid him down on the spare bunk that lay within. Bridger had specifically had a second bunk put into his room some time ago and the occasions of Lucas_'staying over'_ were becoming more and more frequent. He often wondered why he just didn't suggest to the teenager to move in permanently.

Lord knows that Piccolo and Lucas often had quarrels about the lodgings and sleeping arrangements within their small room. It was often decided by a hand of poker or the flip of a coin and changed every month or so.

Kristin laid a clean towel over the pillow on the bed just before Lucas's head was gently laid onto it. The jostling along the corridor and through the doorway seemed to bring Lucas back from his darkened prison a little and he gave a slight moan and turned his head slightly on the bed, indicating that he was beginning to show some signs of regaining consciousness.

The trio in the room waited with bated breaths to see if Lucas opened his eyes or moved about some more, but they were  
disappointed when Lucas failed to grant their wish. The doctor admonished herself and reminded herself that the young man still needed medical attention at the moment.

Kristin carefully lifted Lucas's eyelids. She shook her head at the very glassy and glazed look that she saw within those pale blue eyes. "He is really knocked out," she said out loud to Tony and the Captain as they waited for her commentary as to Lucas's condition.

She gently examined the gash on his head again and noted that it would need one or two stitches to help seal the wound. "I would estimate that he is going to be out for quite a while," she informed them. "I need one of you to stay while I stitch the gash. Any volunteers?"

Kristin and Nathan both chuckled as Tony turned slightly pale at the idea of playing nurse. Even if it was to help Lucas.

"Um, I wouldn't Doc. Unless you want two patients instead of one," Piccolo said admitting his queasiness for anything that involved blood.

Tony had not said anything when they had found Lucas only because he was more worried about the teenager needing medical attention. Now that the medical attention had arrived, it was time for him to punch the clock as he would say. He would do almost anything for his friend Lucas, but watching him being stitched up was not one of them.

"You can wait outside then for a second and I will call you when you can come back in," Kristin suggested with a smile as she put  
on a pair of gloves ready to perform the repair work.

"If you don't mind Tony, I would like you to stay here after Kristin has finished," Bridger said to Piccolo as he reached  
the door. "I want to talk to the senior crew and organize an investigation into what happened to Lucas and would appreciate someone staying with him. It won't be for long."

"No sweat Cap. I'll just be waiting outside. Call me when you need me." Tony replied with honesty in his voice. He classed  
Lucas as one of his very best friends aboard the SeaQuest. True they had their differences. Some might say that opposites  
attract when it came to Tony and Lucas because with some things they were almost on alternative wave lengths.

When you got down to it, Lucas was one of the very few people aboard who had overlooked the fact that Tony was an ex-con. There were other people aboard, names not being mentioned that reminded Piccolo almost every day that he didn't deserve to be there and that he was once on the other side of the law.

Lucas wasn't like that. It didn't matter to him that people had a different skin colour or a different background. He was willing to give anybody a fair chance and see what was on the outside rather than the inside. It was all part of what made Lucas, Lucas.

"Do you know what he was hit with?" Kristin now asked the Captain as he watched her expert but gentle hands as they worked to repair the wound on Lucas's head. She had wondered whether or not to give him a local to help with the pain from the stitches. She erred on the side of caution though and decided not to due to the boy still being unconscious.

The doctor just had to hope that his unconsciousness was deep enough for Lucas not to feel much pain at the moment. For the most part during the whole procedure, he seemed not to notice. It wasn't until she was about finished that he tried to move his head on the pillow again.

"Shhh, try not to move," Kristin soothed in a whisper hoping that the boy would stay still only a moment longer for her to  
tidy up her minor surgery. She wouldn't be able to put any bandaging over the area due to his hair.

"Please don't shout," came the barely audible whisper from Lucas's lips. He was trying to open his eyes but they felt impossibly heavy and it was becoming more than an effort. With him gaining partial consciousness, the pain from his head now began to seep into his senses until it rose to bursting point. The teenager's hands touched the head and temple region and groaned aloud at the throbbing that was in his head.

Kristei removed her gloves and now gently caressed the boy's forehead with her hand as she waited for him to try and open his eyes. Lucas did keep trying to a time, but then seemed to give up and his eyes now closed again and he fell into a restless sleep. The youth was somewhere between sleep and awake at the moment and didn't quite know how to get to either one.

"Shouldn't we try and keep him awake?" Bridger asked as he watched Lucas's head loll to one side, signalling that sleep had a claim on him once more. He was trying to remember what little medical training he had received if any about head injuries and the dangers of letting a concussed patient fall back to sleep after being unconscious for any length of time.

"I think he will be alright, Nathan," Kristen answered as she now fussed over the bed, trying to make things as comfortable for the young man as possible. "He sounded coherent enough in what little speech we heard. I know what they say about head injuries, but the latest theories in the medical profession suggest that sleep and rest is the best healer with these sorts of injuries."

" I have put some antiseptic cream on the surface of the wound and the stitches should be ready to come out in a week or so, but other than that I think rest is exactly what he needs. When he wakes, he will need to restrict his movements some and be vigilant for the onset of headaches, bouts of nausea and dizziness. All are very common after a head injury like the one he has sustained. After a week or so he should be perfectly okay."

"Do you know who did this and why?" Kristen now asked.

"No, but that's just what I aim to find out," Bridger said in a determined voice.

"Piccolo," he called out as he walked over and opened the hatchway to his quarters.

"Yes, " Tony answered as he walked through the door. He looked over towards his friend and saw that the kid seemed  
to be resting okay.

"You watch him for a while now so we can go and find out who did this," Bridger instructed. "If you need us call."

Once the Captain and Kristen had left the room, Tony pulled a chair over to the side of the bed that Lucas was lying on  
and settled in to keep a eye on his friend. He took a careful look at the stitched gash on the teenager's head without touching it.

Piccolo winced a little at how painful it looked. He hoped the Captain and the others were able to find out whoever was responsible. He wouldn't have minded taking a swing at them himself for Lucas's sake.

* * *

In the ward room, the senior crew was meeting as requested by the Captain to talk about an investigation into what had  
happened to Lucas. People present apart from the doctor and Bridger included Commander Jonathan Ford, Jim Brody, Lonnie Anderson, Miguel Ortiz and Tim O'Neill.

All of them had been whispering to each other about Lucas before the Captain entered the room. Upon seeing him and Kristin enter, they all now stopped their chatter and prepared to take part in the discussion.

"Okay people, what have you thought about?" Bridger asked. He didn't doubt what the topic of conversation had been before he and Kristin had come in the room. At the moment, he welcomed any other input that they had in finding the person responsible for hurting Lucas.

"Well, Captain," Jonathan Ford began, being nominated by the others as the spokesperson of the group. "What we think  
we should do is keep any investigation and nosing around that we do very quiet. Although we all agree that we need to  
find out whoever did this to Lucas, we don't think announcing it to the whole boat is the way to go. If we just play things  
a little close to our chest for the moment and fish around and make enquiries on the quiet, then we might be able to get  
this person to identify himself."

Jim Brody now continued the ideas of the group, "What we need is to do is check the backgrounds of some of the crew.  
We have taken on quite a few new sailors this time around. Who knows what some of them did before coming aboard.  
Sometimes unscrupulous people slip through the rigorous screening that the UEO is supposed to do."

"I think I will leave that type of work to you Mr Ortiz and Mr O'Neill. Between the two of you on the Bridge, hopefully  
your efforts won't be so noticed if it conducted there during the normal course of your duties. I want you to see if anything  
sticks out about anybody aboard. And don't leave anybody out. Just because somebody doesn't look like our suspect  
on the outside doesn't mean that they don't have something to hide," Bridger suggested.

"What do you want the rest of us to do Captain?" Ford asked.

"Keep an eye out for this character. At this stage apart from the missing money from Lucas's wallet, we don't know what  
his motive is. We don't know if Lucas is the only target. This person could strike again and he could attack anybody else  
aboard this boat unless we discover who he is. Be alert, but I ask that you do keep an eye on Lucas in particular, just in  
case he is the intended victim here," Bridger stated.

"You don't have to worry about that Captain. I don't think there is too many people aboard who aren't appalled by what  
happened to Lucas today," Brody said.

"How is he Captain?" Lonnie enquired. "Is Lucas going to be alright?"

"We think so. At the moment apart from a headache, he seems to have come through it okay. We will just have to wait  
until he wakes up to see if there are any lasting effects such as more headaches or dizziness." Kristin informed the  
group.

"That's part of the other reason for keeping an eye on Lucas in particular. You know how secretive he can be when it comes to him feeling unwell. If you think he is not looking himself, come and let myself or the Captain know immediately and I will take a look at him."

The meeting ended and everybody went back to their official duties, their other task never far from their mind.

* * *

Bridger had been wanting to get back to his quarters and check on Lucas as soon as possible. He opened his door and gasped out loud when there seemed to be no sign of either Tony and Lucas. He was muttering to himself and talking about the imminent punishment he was about to dish out to a certain crew member named Tony Piccolo when he heard that very person come up behind him.

"I'm sorry Captain. I didn't leave him for very long, just a second really. I came back a couple of seconds ago and he was gone. Sorry, I was just looking around for him before coming to get you," Tony said as he gulped at the annoyance he could see on Bridger's face.

"Whoa, let's start at the beginning shall we," Bridger said as he gritted his teeth and tried to remain as calm as possible  
throughout the entire thing. "When exactly did he wake up and why did you leave him alone in the first place?"

"He didn't wake up until five minutes ago honest, Captain," Tony said as he tried to plead his innocence in the whole affair. "He took some time to wake up and then complained about his head feeling like it was splitting open. I said I would go and get him a drink of water and try and find the doctor for some headache tablets. I returned with the drink before trying to find you and that's when I noticed he was gone from the room."

Kristin had been attending to something in her lab after the meeting in the Ward Room, but was now returning to the Captain's quarters to check on her patient when she came across what looked to be Bridger and Tony arguing in the doorway.

Bridger saw the confused look on her face and thought he had better be the one to warn her before she found out for herself and let her own anger unleash on both he and Piccolo. "He's not there," he stated simply.

Kristin took a few seconds to register what he had said before the realisation dawned on her and her eyes widened with shock "What do you mean he is not in there?" she demanded, her voice betraying her anger. Tony decided now was about the right time to be taking a step back in case the doc wanted to get physical.

"He woke up and I went to get him a drink, Doc," Tony started to explain. "He said he had a killer headache. I was about to come and get you and the Captain for some pain killers when I noticed him gone. I only just started to look for him."

"Nathan, we don't even know what his mental state is like," Kristen said as her anger changed into outright worry.

"He took a very nasty hit to his head. He might be wandering around the boat dazed and, hurt. He definitely wouldn't be thinking straight," as she tried to explain all the possibilities.

"I know. Look you go that way, Tony you go that way and alert the rest of the crew and I will go that way, indicating the stair case nearby to the higher levels," Bridger said.

They were all about to go off in opposite directions when they saw Dagwood approaching from one end of the corridor. The three of them couldn't hide their gasps of relief as they saw a very pale and tired looking Lucas in front of the GELF.

Bridger was the first to run closer and try and get a look at the teenager. Lucas looked at the Captain with an uncomprehending expression. His winced out loud as his headache got worse again. Dagwood seemed to be propelling him forward and lifting him up by his shirt collar. Lucas's own arms and legs looked to be hanging limply by his side.

Kristin immediately tried to look at him to gauge what level of consciousness he had. Lucas's eyes were very blood shot and his face was very pale. Mostly probably due to the pain that he was feeling through his head. The teenager groaned out loud in front of her again for emphasis about just how bad the headache was.

Kristi,n's worried expression softened significantly at his obvious pain and she gently took one of his arms and helped Dagwood guide him towards the Captain's quarters once again and a nice soft bed. She had her medical bag in the room and pulled out two strong pain killers and handed them to the youth as he sat back down on the bed.

Tony gave him the glass of water he had left behind and Lucas gratefully swallowed the two tablets, hoping that they would somehow work within the next two seconds and relief his suffering.

"Where did you find him Dag?" Tony now asked for everybody in the room.

"Um, Dagwood find Lucas along the corridor on his knees. Said his head was hurting and needed drink of water," Dagwood said in his childlike fashion. "Lucas Dagwood's friend. Dagwood take care of friend," he added.

"Yes you did very well, Dagwood," Kristen commended him. "Thank you."

"And what have you got to say for yourself young man." Kristen said as she turned back towards her patient with scolding words on her tongue for his foolishness. She knew that he had acted without really thinking and that the pain would have been clouding his judgment. The words fell away though as she looked down to see Lucas laying down fully on the bed once more asleep.

"He took about ten years off my life," Tony said as he voiced his guilt at not having watched over the teenager as he had promised to do.

"And I am going to take about that off your hide next time," Bridger said in a mock gesture. He too was just voicing his worry about what had happened.

"What happened to Lucas?" Dagwood asked innocently. He had been taking care of his normal janitorial duties aboard the vessel and had not heard anything about Lucas being struck on the head and robbed.

"Someone hurt Lucas by hitting him on the head Dag and took all of his money," Tony told the big man.

"Someone hurt Lucas, Dagwood hurt them," Dagwood responded honestly. The others in the room knew how close Lucas and Dagwood had become over the last few months. Like Tony, Lucas was one of the few people aboard willing to overlook the large coloured lines that marred Dagwood's outer skin. He only saw Dagwood for the kind gentle soul that he was.

"Yes, Dagwood but right now we don't know who that is. Did you see anybody strange lurking in the corridors earlier today?" Bridger asked hoping that someone saw something.

"Dagwood not see any stranger. Dagwood promise to take care of Lucas in future," he added.

"We know you will, Dag," Bridger said. "You can go back to your duties now."

Dagwood walked to the doorway and was about to exit when he looked back towards the teenager on the bed, "Lucas is my friend," he said.

"Lucas is probably going to sleep for a while. Tony why don't you go and see what you can find out discreetly about what happened. Discreetly I remind you," Bridger reminded him.

"Thanks Cap, and I am sorry that I let you down," Tony replied.

"You did just fine, Tony," Bridger said in honesty. He knew that Tony would never have intentionally neglected his care of Lucas.

"Next time though……….," he warned with a pointing finger and grinned at Tony ducked out the door away from the accusing hand.

As Tony walked down the corridor towards his quarters, he failed to see the shadowy figure of Riley watch him leaving the Captain's quarters. At least nobody suspected him yet. And at least now he knew where they were keeping the kid. His next attempt would have to prove more fruitful than the last.

The next time he would have to make sure that the boy was at least conscious to answer his questions about the whereabouts of the chip. Once he had a hold of the chip he just needed to get the kid off the boat somehow.

Riley concealed his presence again and began formulating a second plan of attack. He would have to wait at least a day for the heat to wear off before trying again.

to be continued ...

**AUTHOR'S NOTE – REVISED: Okay there you go, now you know what happened to him afterwards. What's going to**

**happen in the future you ask. Who knows, I just wing this as I write it, no real recipe to my writing. Enjoy**


	3. SECRETS REVEALED

**THE SECRET DEVICE**

**By Jules**

The next morning, Lucas awoke not really remembering anything at first about the day before and being struck over the head. He opened his eyes and was greeted by the familiarity of the Captain's quarters. This was not unusual however. There seemed to be a lot of occasions when Lucas woke up in his dad's quarters rather than his own.

Lucas now decided to sit up briefly for a moment and work out why his head was so fuzzy. He couldn't remember any of the events of the night before. He suddenly had bad ideas about having too late a night playing poker with Tony and today he would pay the price for his indulgence in such pleasures.

The action of sitting up however brought the world crashing back to reality around him. The headache that hadn't been there when he first awoke now came back at full force, almost taking Lucas's breath away with his ferocity.

He put his hands to either side of his head to try and massage the pain away. His long fingers worked throughhis blond hair until they reached a knotted section of hair. He frowned in puzzlement as to why his hair was in such a messy, sticky clump.

He knew that it could be uncombed at time but at the moment his hair felt like it had been stuck together with kid's glue or something. He tried to explore the sticky mess more closely with his fingertips but quickly brought them away with a gasp of pain as he found the stitches that Kristen had placed there to hold the gash together.

The headache wasn't lessoning but because he wasn't thinking too straight through the pain, Lucas still wasn't able to come up with an answer for what had happened.

He started to move the rest of his body around to see if it could shed some light onto the subject. He moved his arms and legs okay, no pain there that he could recognize immediately. He now removed his hands from his head and moved them down his chest area and swivelled from side to side with his abdominal muscles. No pain there either. The pain seemed to be localised to his head only.

Lucas now looked over and saw the figure of Captain Bridger asleep on the couch on the other side of the room. He felt a little guilty about kicking the man out of his own bed again. The man looked as though he had been asleep all night.

It was about now that Lucas became aware that he needed to take care of a few personal items before pondering much more about why his head hurt so much and why he couldn't remember what happened. He needed to go to the bathroom first and then get a drink of water to get some moisture back into his mouth and throat. They both felt impossibly dry at the moment.

Despite the headache, Lucas didn't seem to think there was any need to wake his dad just yet. The rest of his body seemed to be working okay a few minutes ago. He could make it to the bathroom on his own and then make his way down to the mess for some breakfast. He then looked at the time on the clock. When he awoke, he just assumed that it must have been early morning. The clock now showed the time of 10.40am in digital numbers.

Oh well lunch then Lucas said to himself. He really didn't think he had been that tired the night before. He was wondering why nobody else, including the Captain was chewing him out about sleeping so late. The Captain wasn't normally against a little more shut-eye, but sleeping almost to lunch time whilst on board didn't really fit in with the normal day today schedule of the crew.

Lucas now swung his legs over the edge of the bed and prepared to stand up and go to the bathroom. He was unaware of how much his body would protest when he put full weight on his feet on the floor. He had to grab hold of the edge of the bed in a hurry to stop himself falling into an embarrassing heap on the floor. He clamped his teeth shut to stop the hell of surprise that was currently caught in his throat. Why was he so dizzy?

Dizzy was an understatement to as he fought against his body's attempts to stay upright. His legs felt like jelly they seemed to be ready to betray him at any moment now. Lucas looked over at his dad, hoping to hell that he hadn't woken up the man by his acrobatic performance.

The man really did look tired. Maybe he had worked longer than usual last night. Whatever the reason was, Lucas didn't want to wake him unless absolutely necessary.

The headache now reminded Lucas that it was still there, making the teenager try and massage his temples again. He now took account of his body's condition now and noted that the dizziness had started to slow somewhat. He still felt a little uneasy on his feet and he thought that he could at least make it to the other side of the room and back okay.

With a few cautious steps, Lucas now propelled himself forward towards the small bathroom in the Captain's quarters. Lucas didn't spend a lot of time in there thought. Due to the measurements of the room, he had begun to feel a little claustrophobic which hadn't helped his dizziness or his headache any.

The headache was still ever present and showed no sign of easing anytime soon without the help of aspirin or something. The dizziness was now disappearing slowly but he legs told him that he needed to move very slowly at the moment.

A few minutes later, he seemed to have made it back to the Captain's bed from the bathroom without managing to fall flat on his face. He looked down at this clothes to see if he was respectable enough to go to the mess for that drink and something to put in his stomach. He noticed that he was still wearing the clothes from yesterday.

Maybe that was why he felt so dizzy. He didn't have too much to eat yesterday and obviously hadn't been awake to eat dinner last night. He thought he had successfully explained away why he felt so unsteady on his feet at the moment. That problem could soon be fixed with a little food and he could get some aspirin from Kristen for his headache. He would be feelinglike his normal self in no time.

Lucas was now outside the Captain's quarters. To his surprise nobody else seemed to be about at the moment. Given the time of day they were probably all going about their respective duties. It suited Lucas because with his head killing him like it was, he really wasn't in the mood for chit chat.

He just wanted something to stop the dizziness that plagued him at the moment, a drink to sooth his throat and then go back to his own room for some peace and quiet. Hopefully he could do his work, quietly without disturbance and the darkened room should help shield his sore eyes from the light and help ease the headache.

Lucas was immensely grateful for the fact that the corridors were empty all the way to the mess hall. He didn't even run into Kristen or Tony along the way. His pace was deliberately slower due to the dizziness. When he got to the mess hall he was equally surprised that it was also empty. But then again the breakfast crew would have left a couple of hours ago and the lunch crew would be another hour before they filed in.

The chef's had knocked off after the breakfast shift and wouldn't be expected to start preparing the lunch meal until about twenty minutes time. Lucas knew the basic lay out of the SeaQuest galley and now moved slowly around the various counters, grateful for their support at times as he stopped briefly and waited for the small waves of dizziness to subside.

Within a few minutes he had managed to grab a day old bread roll and some ingredients from the fridge to make himself a crude sandwich. And added a glass of cool water to the Lucas now walked back with his plate in hand and took up residence at the nearest table.

The teenager had managed to take about three or four mouthfuls of food from the sandwich before pushing the plate aside on the table and laying his head down over his folded arms. He really felt tired even after only being awake for such a short period of time. He barely felt himself drift off into a fitful doze where he would remain undisturbed for the next twenty minutes or so.

* * *

Bridger was still asleep in his room, blissfully unaware that his young charge had woken up at all let alone been walkingaround and made his way to the mess hall.

Bridger slowly began to wake and he too had briefly forgotten about the events the previous evening. He had been soworried about the attack on Lucas and the boy's welfare that it had taken it's own toll on him without even realising it.

He had been dead tired when he fell asleep on the couch sometime during the hours of the early morning. Lucas hadn't stirred for sometime so he stood up and stretched for a while, his gaze finally settling upon the vacant couch. It looked very inviting as he tried to work out some of the stiffness from his unused muscles.

He had only meant to lay back and get some of the kinks out of his back but ended up spending the rest of the night and most of the morning by the look of the time in that position. He too looked at the digital clock on the bedside table and scarcely could believe that it read 10:59am.

Bridger was quickly brought back to reality though and reminded about why he felt so tired when his gaze finally settled on the empty bed on the other side of the room. Lucas was not there. He felt the panic start to rise in him but then tried to dispel them by saying that the boy had probably woken up earlier and was probably getting some medical attention from Kristen in Med Bay.

"Calm down old boy, don't panic just yet," he said out loud to himself but then turned at a knock on his door.

He walked over and opened the closed door to reveal the very person he had just thought about, Kristin Westphalen. The concern for Lucas started to multiply again though when he couldn't see any sign of the missing teenager.

"Good morning Nathan. How is Lucas this morning?" Kristin asked. From her position at the door she was not able to see that the bed was currently empty.

"I don't know how he is because he was gone. I only woke up a few seconds ago and found the bed empty" he said now opening the door fully and allowing Kristen to view for herself what he said was true.

"Oh no not again," she said trying to stop her own worry mount about where the teenager might be. Lucas might be feeling okay this morning. He might have just got up and gone back to his room she could hear herself saying. All the logic didn't seem to help douse her fear for the teenager though.

"Come on," Bridger now announced without bothering to put even shoes on his feet. He and Kristin both could see that they were as worried about each other about Lucas. They intended to look in his quarters first before going into full scale panic.

By the time Kristin and the Captain made their way down the corridor, there were a few more crew members in the corridor than when Lucas had been there. There were a few muffled giggles as some of them tried to hide their amusement of their Commanding Officer and Chief Medical Doctor making their way down the corridor in great haste.

They could help but grin at the sight of Captain Bridger walking briskly without shoes. Kristin and the Captain could hear the laughter but ignored it.

Tony had been sitting on his bottom bunk when the door to his quarters was suddenly opening with great force.

"Whoa….. If you wanted to take the door off the hinges you could have used a screwdriver," Tony said jokingly but as soon as he saw the expressions on the faces of the Captain and the doctor, he knew that they were in no mood for jokes of any kind.

"Where's Lucas?" Bridger now said in a raised voice, not meaning to yell at Piccolo.

"You mean he's not in your room again," Tony said, standing up. Somehow he already knew the answer to the question.

"Let's get looking," Kristin now said to both men as she retreated back out the door and headed down the corridor.

"Where do we look first?" Tony asked as he tried to hurry up to Bridger and Kristen whilst struggling to put his boot on his left foot.

"Let's start with the Bridge. Maybe Commander Ford or someone else saw Lucas walking around" Bridger now suggested.

* * *

Commander Ford was surprised to see the Captain back on the Bridge so early that day. He knew that the Captain had had a rough night the night before tending to Lucas with the doctor. Now he could see both of them coming towards him with Piccolo behind them. All of them had a worried look on their faces.

"Commander, Lucas is missing. Kristin thinks he might be just wandering around the boat a little dazed from his head injury. Have any of you seen him in the last hour or so?" The last part of his question was addressed to all those currently on the Bridge. This included Tim O'Neill and Miguel Ortiz.

All of them shook their heads in a negative reply at the question but all also got up to start looking for the missing young man.

"Thanks," Bridger said as he saw the two officers fully prepared to help out as much as they could. Commander Ford wanted to help as well but decided that he needed to stick to the Bridge. He would get the other remaining crew members trying to locate Lucas by his PAL communicator.

Now there was four people hurrying along the various corridors of the SeaQuest trying to find Lucas. So far they had only searched a few places and rooms but hadn't found him yet. They had started off with the science sections, in case the kid got some fool idea that he was well enough to carry on with some of his current projects.

They were all standing together in the hallway trying to discuss where to search next and possibly split up into pairs when they heard someone's voice behind them. They all turned to see Dagwood standing there.

"Um Captain. Dagwood cleaning mess hall ready for lunch. Found Lucas but he doesn't move. I thought I better come and find doctor in case he is sick" the gentle man now said.

"You found Lucas?" the four of them shouted back all at once. Dagwood was a little taken back by the reaction and took a step back, thinking that he was in trouble for something.

"Yes," he said nervously and took another step back in retreat.

"Lead us to him, Dag," Tony now said. Kristin and Bridger were too overcome with the relief that the teenager had been found for their legs to work briefly. The doctor kept hearing the words that Lucas didn't want to move and her concern quickly returned to replace the relief of finding him. Now the five of them hurried down the corridor with Dagwood in front.

All of them came running into the mess hall but pulled up short. Tim berated Miguel for walking on the back of his shoes in the process. From where they were all standing, none of them could see Lucas's face. All they could see was the slumped figure of the teenager at the table.

Kristin and Bridger wanted to run all the way there to see if he was alright but restrained themselves to walking at a much more normal pace. Bridger gave a shushing motion with his fingers to the rest of the crew behind him as they neared the table.

Lucas remained asleep and didn't even know that there was a crowd gathered around him watching him sleep. Bridger wondered whether or not they should wake the kid to see if he was alright or just let him keep sleeping.

He didn't need to answer the question though as Lucas began to stir on his own. He was facing the opposite direction, so wasn't unduly alarmed when he first woke but the hairs on the back of his neck were standing on edge telling him that somebody was behind him. He turned to see who it was.

Lucas had felt the presence of somebody else in the room but gave a loud gasp of shock when he turned to see five faces peering back at him.

"Ahhh...," was the response he got out. He relaxed as soon as he saw that it was only his family and friends concerned about him. He still wasn't impressed though awakening to such an audience.

"Don't you guys have anything better to do?" he demanded with a little frustration creeping into his voice. Part of which was due to the headache that had re-emerged as soon as he opened his eyes. He had hoped that it would go away aftera while but now he was awake again, it showed no signs of abating and letting him be.

"We were just worried about you, Lucas," Bridger said for everybody else in the room. "We didn't know where you had gone when you left me room. We needed to know if you were alright."

"Well you can see I am fine now so you can all go about your way," Lucas replied but then winced loudly as the headache surged again and he put his hands to his head attempting to ease the pain.

"Do you have a headache?" Kristin asked, knowing that she was stating the obvious.

"That's just a slight understatement," he then said as he closed his eyes and tried to wish the pain away from his skull.

"Well after what happened yesterday I am not surprised that you have a bad headache," Bridger said.

"Well whatever happened you are going to have to explain it all to me again because it must have been one hell of a good party. I don't even remember how I got into your room" Lucas admitted and now looked at the Captain expecting some God awful explanation.

"You mean you don't remember what happened to you?" Kristin now asked with a little concern in her voice. She looked from Bridger to Tony back to Bridger and back to Tony again.

"No I don't remember anything from yesterday," Lucas admitted and winced again at the headache. "What did I do, get drunk or something." When he looked back at the faces of the crew before him, all he could see was confusion and concern about him not being able to remember what happened.

"Lucas, someone attacked you in one of the engine rooms yesterday. Hit you over the head, robbed you of all your money and left you unconscious laying on the floor. You mean to tell me that you really don't remember anything at all?" Bridger asked.

The statement about the money missing had only now registered in Lucas's brain. "You mean all my money is gone?" he yelled and tried to get up too quickly from the table. He immediately regretted such a rash action and had to grab a hold of the table to prevent himself spilling awkwardly to the floor.

Bridger saw the teenager sway slightly and now made a firm but gentle grab on his shoulder to keep him upright.  
"You feel okay?" he asked as he noted the boy's face had paled slightly.

"I feel like hell, but I would really like something to ease this headache. It's been killing me all morning," Lucas now admitted. "You mean all that money is gone. Did you find out who took it?" he now asked changing the subject back to being about his money.

"Let's worry about the money thing later on shall we. Let's get you some aspirin first and try and ease your headache. Then maybe we can talk about the missing money and who would want to rob you. I have spoken to some of the crew and they are doing all they can to find the person responsible. They have been told just to keep their investigations to themselves at the moment," Bridger now suggested.

"Yeah okay," Lucas said as he allowed himself to be led away from the table and out of the mess hall.

* * *

Kristin had gone off to her office to get the aspirin that Lucas needed while Bridger, Tony, Lucas and Dagwood headed to the Ward Room. No real reason. The room was big enough to accommodate them all comfortably and Lucas could rest on one of the couches.

Bridger led Lucas over to one of the couches just as Kristin returned with the aspirin. He gratefully accepted the painkillers and downed them with the glass of water that Tony handed him. He was waiting for them to work immediately, but unfortunately knew that it would take about ten for him to notice any change in the pain level.

"Feel up to telling us what you remember?" Bridger now asked. He didn't really want to push the kid but he wanted to get as much information about the attacker as possible. At this stage they still had no idea why Lucas was attacked or if there would be further ones on the boat.

He also wanted to check about the memory loss Lucas declared he had. If he didn't remember at first, hopefully it was only temporary and not something to worry about even more.

"I really don't know what to tell you, Captain," Lucas answered.

"I really don't remember anything," he said but then had a puzzled expression on his face as he tried to remember something. For a second he thought he could actually see something in the back of his aching head.

"Now that I think about it, the last thing I remember is telling Tony that I would meet him for lunch in the mess hall. I remember walking a couple of steps and then getting the feeling that somebody was behind me. I think I tried to turn around and see who it was…………….," he paused, scrunching up his face trying to squeeze the images out of his head.

"Sorry, that's all I can remember," Lucas said apologetically.

"That's okay, Lucas," Bridger assured the teenager. "You took a pretty nasty hit to the head. Tony and I found you after you didn't meet us for lunch. We got worried and tried to page you on the PAL communicator but you didn't answer. We started to search for you and found your wallet laying out in the middle of the corridor. There was nothing left inside it but your photo. Tony and I kept searching and then found you laying unconscious with a gash to your head."

"Man, I had five hundred dollars in that wallet too," Lucas grimaced. "Now what am I going to buy you for your birthday. There isn't enough time between now and when we go on shore leave to go back to the bank again," he said dejectedly.

"Hey, let's not worry about the money too much. I just want to make sure that your okay. It wouldn't be much of a birthday to celebrate with a five hundred dollar present and no you to help me blow the candles out," he said as he gave the kid some reassurance.

"You being safe is more important than any present worth 10 times that," he added. Lucas blushed a little in embarrassment as Bridger said such words like that in front of the other crew members.

"We have to find out who did this, Captain," Tim O'Neill now said. "We don't know who this person is. Maybe Lucas was the target, maybe not. Who knows, whoever it is might try again just as easily and on any one of us. Maybe he wasn't looking for money at all," Tim now suggested without really thinking about what he was seeing.

"What else could he have been after though?" Miguel asked innocently. All eyes now settled now though on Lucas as he suddenly looked as though he knew something.

"Yeah, maybe he wasn't looking for money," Lucas agreed, knowing that he would have to tell the rest of them why he thought so. Something about the whole thing didn't add up.

Although the money idea was the most logical motive for the attack. In the back of Lucas mind, he remembered that he currently possessed something worth a lot more than five hundred dollars.

"What do you mean, Lucas?" Bridger asked, trying not to read anything more into the words than was necessary. But he could see that Lucas was looking about the room as though he was being evasive and concealing some information.

Lucas sighed loudly and knew that he had better inform the senior crew about what he had been doing with the computer chip. He knew that he was supposed to keep all of the dealings to himself, but he didn't like the idea that somebody was aboard willing to harm people for it. The person could attack one of other crew members to get information. He wouldn't be able to cope with the guilt if that happened.

"You had better get the senior crew together," Lucas said in a whisper, trying not to look at the others as he said the words. They would all think the worst of him for keeping such information a secret and potentially putting everybody aboard in a risky situation.

"There's something I have not told you and it just maybe that this person wasn't looking for my money at all."

* * *

Bridger didn't like the way this conversation was heading but did as Lucas asked and got Commander Ford, Jim Brody and Lonnie Henderson into the room. Tony was allowed to stay at Lucas's request as was Dagwood. Neither of them were senior crew but he wanted them to hear his story as well.

"What's the problem, Captain?" Commander Ford now asked as he and the others filed into the Ward Room as requested.

"Lucas thinks he has some information about why this person attacked him yesterday" Bridger answered. "He doesn't think it was to rob him of his 500.00"

Without saying anything further they all took a seat and waited for the teenager to start the conversation. With all eyes now on him, Lucas couldn't help but feel nervous, even though everyone in the room was either family or friend. His headache had eased some and he now got up and walked over to the large oval table in the centre of the room.

He sat down at the far end of the table, thinking that it gave him some breathing space between him his friends whilst he told his story. He was still apprehensive about how they were all going to reaction about his secrecy.

"It can't be that bad, Lucas," Tony now jabbed at the teenager, trying to cut through the tension in the room. Lucas failed to acknowledge the jibe and played with one of the small paper weights on the table whilst he spoke.

"I don't know who hit me, but if the attack truly was aimed at me, then I have possession of something worth a lot more than the paper money I had on me yesterday," he now said, repeating his own thoughts from earlier.

Nobody wanted to interrupt the young man's train of thought and waited patiently for the teenager to explain his last statement.

"Captain, you said that when you were looking for me, you found my wallet in the corridor. Tell me apart from the missing money, what condition was it in afterwards?

Bridger thought this to be a peculiar question but answered truthfully anyway, "No it wasn't in very good condition at all. Some of the compartments were ripped entirely opened as though they may be looking for something else" he said now visualizing the wallet in his mind after he had picked it up. Do I need to go get it and show you Lucas?"

"No that's okay. I know what he was looking for," Lucas admitted.

"You see for the last several months, I have been perfecting a secret device that is almost out of this world. Don't worry, I have been keeping up with my regular work in the science section as well. When I have had any other spare time, I have been working on it."

"You see Captain, the wallet was torn open because was he was looking for is no bigger than your thumb nail," Lucas now said and paused whilst he waited for the crew to take in what he had just said.

"What have you been working on, Lucas?" Kristin asked for everybody else in the room.

"When we were on shore leave, I went and spoke to some large companies about manufacturing my project on a large scale basis. They said I wasn't allowed to discuss the terms with anybody else or even acknowledge that I have been working on it at all. I didn't mean to deceive you all, but I didn't want to reveal the device until it was totally ready. There are still a few minor adjustments that I have to make before we land at Pearl Harbour in a few days."

"And for something that small, you think somebody was willing to knock you over the head and hurt you just to get it," Brody now said with a little doubt in his voice. He still thought that the idea about the money was a more plausible motive at this stage.

"When something is worth as much as this in monetary terms Jim, yes. I expect people would do a lot to get their hands on it. I just didn't think enough ahead to realise that somebody would want to try and board the SeaQuest to get it. I thought it and me would be safe enough here until Fort Gore," Lucas replied.

"What is it, a new computer part?" Tony now repeated the question about what it was. All this discussion and they still hadn't heard what the object was that people were willing to do anything to get.

"It is a new microchip. Not just any microchip. A prototype," Lucas answered with a little pride in his voice. He had created something that nobody else had been able to do in the past.

"What is it meant to do Lucas?" Bridger asked the curiosity getting the better of him. How could Lucas create such a thing and he not be aware of it? he asked himself silently.

"It's based on the one I put in the vodocorder only its much more advanced" Lucas now explained. "The vodocorder was set up from a database of words programmed by me and as time goes on, it is supposed to teach itself in its new learning environment. The microchip that I designed does more than that. It takes artificial intelligence to the next level where it can be placed inside a robot."

"That robot is then able to interact with the world and learn as it goes. It teaches itself depending on the environment it is placed in. There is a very minimal database to begin with but after only a few weeks of contact with other humans and such, the robot should almost appear as good as you or I at a specific task and simple things such as speech."

Everybody looked at Lucas after he finished and then each other. They never seemed to be able to take in just how intelligent this teenager was. They knew that he was smart and above average than most people. But from what Lucas had just described, the teenager had even out-done himself this time.

"I can see why you think that somebody might be interested in something like that, Lucas," Bridger said finally breaking the silence in the room. "What do you estimate something like that would be worth to the wrong people?"

"Let's just say that the company I have been taking to about the manufacture is talking figures of about 10 million dollars for the product itself and then a further 5 million after that for me to teach others how it works," he said.

"They want to make sure the thing works okay first and test it out in a limited environment. That's why they want me to keep it a secret for the time being. They don't want to be held responsible if their little robot decides to learn too much and get out of control."

Tony and Jim both whistled out loudly at the money Lucas was looking at receiving for such a thing. No wonder Lucas was attacked. This person was certainly after more than 500 measly dollars cash from the teenager.

"You mean you are the only one who knows how it works, Lucas?" Kristin asked and then thinking to herself what ramifications such limited knowledge could have.

"Yep!" Lucas said with a grin.

"And I am the only one who knows where it is. I ain't telling anybody. Not even you guys until it is finished and we are safely at Fort Gore. Hopefully that way if somebody is after the chip, they have to go through me to get it" he now said without realising what he had said.

"That's exactly what we are afraid of, Lucas," Bridger now said clearly worried about such an occurrence.

"What are we going to do about security, Captain?" Brody now asked, concerned for the teenager's welfare and that of his fellow crew members.

Captain Bridger thought for a minute and then looked back at Lucas as he tried to come up with a compromise that was acceptable to all parties. If the device was meant to be kept secret than that was okay but it was obvious that somebody aboard already knew about it and was determined to get his or her hands on it.

Bridger was as equally determined not to see Lucas come under another attack because of that greed.

"I think we should keep things as normal around here as possible and screen everybody aboard like we spoke about earlier. If someone came aboard with a suspicious background, hopefully something will show up in their record or they will give themselves away. In the mean time, I want all of you to be vigilant and watch out for each other. Especially you Lucas" he now said and turned to face the teenager.

"I want to know where you are at all times and don't go off into any little corners of the ship without somebody else. That's just the opportunity this person is probably waiting for again," Bridger continued. "I want you to be safe."

"Commander Ford, go over the security plans of this boat as soon as you can and make sure those background checks are done on the crew as soon as possible. Don't leave anybody out, no matter who they are," Bridger instructed.

The senior crew now disbanded and headed back to their various posts including Tony and Piccolo. Tony promised to talk to Lucas after his shift and see how he was going. After they had all left, it was just Lucas, Bridger and Kristin left in the Ward room.

* * *

"So, what have you got to say for yourself young man?" Bridger now said to Lucas.

"Please say you are not mad with me" Lucas said a little worried about the Captain's reaction to his secret. He had not lied to the Captain before and this wasn't lying, just not telling anybody, but the feeling was the same nonetheless.

"Mad at you?" Kristin now said with a smile. She too was worried about what the greed of others would cause for Lucas but she definitely wasn't mad at him. A little gob-smacked at what the young man had achieved and still trying to figure out how she knew nothing about his secret project.

"Honey, we are not mad at you. A little worried about your head after yesterday and definitely worried about your safety at the moment with the attacker still loose, but not mad. Why would you think that?" she asked. Bridger and Kristin had both come to sit at the table, closer to Lucas.

"Promise?" he asked again just to make sure.

"Promise" they said in unison.

"This is the biggest thing I have ever done on my own and to tell you the truth I was a little scared for a while. Not about designing the chip, that was the easy part. But facing those company directors when all they could see was some smart-aleck kid promising to make them lots of money. I was so nervous it was embarrassing," Lucas explained.

"I don't know how you come up with these marvellous inventions Lucas. Your brain definitely needs to be donated to science to find out what makes it tick, but you should be proud of what you have done. Not too many other people in this world would even take on the challenge you have managed not only to take on but face head on and complete," Bridger said genuinely.

"Thanks, I really need your confidence now, more than ever because I don't have very much of my own left," Lucas said with a grateful grin. "Do you really think that this person will try again?" he now asked cautiously.

"Not if we can help it," Bridger said. "Let's go" he now said trying to inject a little more cheeriness into the conversation.

"What do you feel like doing now? I don't suppose you feel like taking doctor's orders and resting a little more today?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

"Actually, I was going to ask Kristin if it was alright to take a swim with Darwin with the stitches in my head at the moment. The headache has eased a little but is still there. I thought the cool water might help my muscles relax a little and let out the tension in the rest of me. How about it doc? Can I go have a swim with Darwin?" he asked hopefully.

"Well………." Kristin started to say, trying to keep the teenager on the hook just a little longer, "I don't see why not," she said and was immediately rewarded with his beaming smile in return.

"But young man, and she grabbed a hold of his shirt sleeve for emphasis, "Just a small one and no splashing about. Definitely no diving under the water or getting your hair wet. I want those stitches to remain dry, do I make myself clear" she said in mock sternness.

"I promise, Doc," he replied honestly. "Coming with me, Captain?" he now asked Bridger.

"Maybe a little later Lucas. I really should relieve Commander Ford on the Bridge for a while since I over-slept this morning. But thanks anyway. You sure you feel alright to go into the water?" he checked for a final time before departing.

"Don't worry, Darwin will be there to keep an eye on me," Lucas replied and now walked back towards his room to change into his wet suit. He decided that it would be better to wear the longer, thicker material in case the water was just a little cooler than he would have liked it to be.

Bridger and Kristi n both stood there for a moment and watched him walk away. "Do you believe that kid?" Kristin asked Nathan. "What other surprises is he going to spring on us?"

"I don't know but I feel greyer by the minute," he joked and bid her goodbye to go to the bridge. Kristin smiled to herself as she walked towards her own office, still coming to terms with what Lucas had been able to create.

* * *

Riley was getting anxious the more the day wore on. He knew where they were keeping the kid after he had been found. The trouble was, he had been hold up in the Captain's quarters for most of the day. It wasn't as though he could just waltz in there and take the boy in front of them all. He had been waiting to see when the kid was on his own, but up until now that hadn't happened.

He had been trying to come up with his plan of how to get the kid off the boat without being seen when hecasually walked past the moon pool. He could scarcely believe his luck when he spied Lucas laughing and playfully splashing at the dolphin.

Riley walked on by so as not to draw attention to himself but then stowed away behind a partition in the wall once he was away far enough not to be noticed. He looked all about the moon pool and couldn't see anybody else about in the immediate area except for the kid and the fish.

This was as good a chance as any and he probably wasn't going to get a better one. He didn't plan to take the kid directly from the water, he would just hide out until the kid got out and then do what he had to.

His own quarters wasn't too far away and he managed to make it back to his room and gather his small backpack and pistol without being see by any other personnel. He hid away behind the partition again and pulled the pistol out, checking to see if it was loaded properly. Once he was satisfied everything was in order, he screwed a silencer onto the barrel of the pistol and look out to where the kid.

Riley now pressed himself back against the wall he was hidden behind as he saw and heard teenager planning to get out of the moon pool. The kid would have to walk right by him to head towards his room. All he would have to do is come up behind him and demand where the chip was hidden. He would force the kid to get into one of the free shuttle launchers once he had the chip and he would be away from the SeaQuest with his hostage before anybody was even aware the kid was missing.

Whilst Lucas was climbing out of the moon pool and grabbing at his towel to dry himself, Captain Bridger had just come from the Bridge and walked towards Piccolo and Ortiz who were now walking down the corridor just in front of him.

"Hi guys," Bridger greeted the two other sailors.

"Hi Cap, we were just heading to the moon pool to see how Lucas was doing," Tony informed him. All three of them knew that Bridger was headed in the same direction to do exactly the same thing.

"Mind if I join you?" he asked.

"Not at all, Captain," Ortiz replied. The three of them now walked slowly towards the moon pool whilst chatting about what else had been happening on board the boat over the last few days.

"See you later, fish-face," Lucas said cheerily to his dolphin friend as he wrapped the towel around his semi-dry wet suit and started to head towards his quarters to change. He took a short-cut down the smaller corridor that led to his room. He didn't know that he had just made a crucial mistake and played right into Riley's hands.

Lucas had many thoughts running though his mind as he walked along. He had been going over the calculations of the micro-chip in his head and wanted to go over some diagnostics at his computer when he reached his quarters. He didn't think the doctor or the Captain would let him near any equipment until tomorrow after his head wound. So he decided to play it safe and stick to his room for the rest of the day.

These were the thoughts running through his head when he felt something touch the back of his shoulder from behind. As he tried to turn to see what or who it was, the next thing he felt was the unmistakable thin barrel of a gun being held against his back.

"Don't move, don't even breathe kid or your dead," came the voice from behind.

"What do you want?" Lucas asked, a little scared and worried that he already knew the answer to the question.

"Don't play games with me kid," Riley warned.

"You know exactly what I want. Now give it to me and I promise not to hurt you too bad this time. Then you are I are going to take a little boat ride to the surface."

"I am not going anywhere with you," Lucas now said in the bravest voice he could muster. He was unaware that the Captain and the others were close enough to be able to hear Lucas's voice and the comment he made.

"I make the rules here kid, not you. I am holding the gun and I promise to use it if I have to. Don't make this any harder than it has to be," Riley said.

Lucas had briefly heard the sound of footsteps to his left. He couldn't see who it was due to the wall beside him, but he hoped his voice was loud enough to signal somebody to help him.

"I said I am not going anywhere with you even if you have a gun aimed at me," he said a little louder.

Riley immediately knew what the kid was out to do but was prevented from delivering a blow to the kid before he was confronted by the Captain and two other sailors in front of his escape route. He couldn't retreat backwards very far.

He cursed out loud about the predicament he now found himself in. There was no secret about his identity or intentions now. He would just have to use the boy as a shield to achieve his objectives.

"Let him go now," Bridger said in a loud and demanding voice as Miguel and Tony stood on either side of him to back him up. They all had heard Lucas's statement that the man had a gun trained on him and could see the man holding something in his right hand that suggested just that.

"You back off old man or I will shoot this kid right here and now," Riley shouted back, trying to bluff his way through the situation. He knew he had to get the kid off the boat without killing him somehow. The kid was the only one who knew how the device worked. Without his knowledge, the chip was nothing more than a piece of plastic.

Riley made his grip on Lucas's shoulder a little tighter and pushed the gun barrel into the soft skin of Lucas's back for emphasis. It had the desired effect as Lucas gasped at the slight discomfort.

"Let him go, you haven't got a chance to go anywhere," Tony now spoke, holding himself back. He really wanted to take a running dive at the man, but was mindful that his best friend was in between with a gun pointed at him.

He made a mental note to punch the crap out of the guy when this was all over and Lucas was safe enough.

"I don't think so," Riley shot back at Piccolo.

"Now I want a launch ready and I want it now. Junior and me here are going to take a little trip. Any resistance either from he or you and I promise you that I will make him squeal. It's your choice _Captain……………………………_ Which is it going to be?" Riley said, fully prepared to do exactly what he said.

"Captain, help me," Lucas pleaded to Bridger as he tried to release the iron grip on his shoulder. The man stronger than he looked however and Lucas could get the grip to loosen, no matter how hard he tried. He was relying on Bridger or Tony or Ortiz to help him.

to be continued


	4. RILEY MAKES HIS MOVE

**THE SECRET DEVICE**

**By Jules**

**CHAPTER 4 - RILEY MAKES HIS MOVE**

So what's it going to be Captain?" Riley said as he pushed the barrel of the pistol into Lucas's soft flesh again, getting another gasp from the teenager for his efforts.

"Let's be sensible about this," Bridger said as he tried the tactical approach. He really was trying to delay things until he could think of a better idea.

"No Captain Bridger, you be smart and start backing up so me and the kid here can make it to a launch," Riley barked in return.

"Why are you doing this to Lucas?" Bridger now asked.

"Well, I might as well tell you because my intentions are out in the open anyway. I only came aboard this hunk of metal for one reason and one reason only. To get this kid and his micro- chip and bring them both back to my employer. When we get there it is intended that both of them will be sold to the highest bidder," Riley replied.

"You mean all of this is over that stupid chip that Lucas made?" Miguel asked in astonishment.

They had all heard about how good this chip was and how that was probably the reason why Lucas had been attacked earlier. But the fact that people were willing to kidnap or hurt Lucas just seeming ludicrous at the least.

"Yes it is all over that chip. That chip that this kid here designed is incredible. My organisation has had at least 10 offers of over 15 million dollars for the kid and his merchandise. But the kid has to be delivered alive with it," Riley shot back.

"But you can't just trade people's lives off like products," Bridger said as he tried to control the anger that was rising within him. He knew he had to keep a cool collected head during this whole drama. He could afford to get angry once Lucas was safe again and his would-be kidnapper was locked up in the SeaQuest's brig.

Riley felt the teenager still struggling against his grip. He was getting with all the chit chat anyway. "Let's cut the chatter and move back," he said forcibly thrusting the teenager one step forward towards Bridger and the others.

Bridger and the others had very little choice but to comply with Riley's demands. They could see the scared look on Lucas's face.

Riley now pushed Lucas forward a few more steps until they were standing in the main corridor. By this time, some of the other SeaQuest members had overheard the commotion and come to see what was happening.

Kristin had also come upon the dangerous situation and was standing beside Commander Jonathan Ford as they tried to come up with a suitable solution. They couldn't allow Riley to get to a shuttle launch and take Lucas from the boat.

They had already heard the threats of what was to happen to the teenager if Riley managed to get him back to the mainland. They also couldn't stand the idea of Lucas being possibly shot or hurt.

"I suppose it is a stupid question to ask if you were the person who attacked Lucas in the corridor the other day?" Bridger now asked.

"Yeah it was me," Riley openly admitted.

"I just wished I would have had more time and we would have already been gone. The kid wouldn't wake up for me to get him to walk and I heard voices coming from close by so I just took the money and left him there. I knew there would be another opportunity to get him on his own."

"You took my money?" Lucas now asked. He could still feel the barrel of the pistol being held at him, but he felt a little annoyed about the man taking the money he had put aside for the Captain's birthday present.

"Yeah, I took it so shut up kid," Riley yelled at the teenager and struck Lucas with the pistol on the side of the head. Lucas didn't collapse entirely, but his head was spinning. He had already had a major injury to his head in the last couple of days and that wasn't even healed properly yet. The fresh glance by the gun only made his senses go fuzzy again.

"You Bastard!" Tony Piccolo yelled at Riley as he saw the man strike Lucas. He could see that such a blow was the last thing Lucas needed right now. He had seen the stitches in the teenager's head.

Bridger held onto Tony's arm in case he tried to do something more dangerous and put Lucas at even further risk of being hurt. He knew how Tony felt. He was livid himself and saw the same emotion in everybody else standing nearby but they had to think about Lucas's safety first.

Riley could feel the teenager's struggles weaken after the blow and knew that the kid was dangerously close to collapsing to the floor. He didn't particularly like to think of having to toss the kid over his shoulder and carry him unless absolutely necessary.

He would just have to work faster at getting him to the shuttle. Once inside he didn't care if the kid passed out or not. He already had ideas about subduing him before they reached the mainland anyway.

"You get me that launch now, Captain or I am going to put a bullet into him right here and now," Riley now shouted. He grabbed a fist full of Lucas's hair and pulled his nodding head up with a jerk causing him to cry out at the sharp pain he felt.

Part of it was due to the older wound on his scalp another was the fresher blow he had just received and the actual feeling of his hair being almost torn out at the roots.

Bridger nodded towards Jonathan Ford to at least give Riley some room to move with Lucas towards the launch hatch. He didn't like the idea anymore than any of them did, but he didn't want to see Lucas hurt anymore. He could see the pained expression on the teenager's face and knew the blow from the gun had revived the dull ache in his head into a now re-emerging full scale monster headache.

The Captain could see Lucas struggling to stay on his feet due to the giddiness that was present. He was probably standing mostly by force from Riley and not because of his own body's strength at the moment.

Riley grinned a little when he saw a path between him and the launch bay hatch open up a little wider. He adjusted his grip on his hostage and his weapon and manoeuvred a weakening Lucas towards the ladder to the hatch way.

Lucas could see them getting closer to the hatch and the ladder. He knew that whatever the man had in store for him once they were inside the shuttle couldn't be good for him. He had to hope that his friends were able to do something and rescue him in time.

"Let me go damn it. I am not going anywhere with you," Lucas said using the most determined voice he could find at the moment.

"You heard him, let him go," Kristin now said as she too felt fearful for the teenager's safety.

Riley didn't answer their demands. Instead he made sure that they were all looking as he moved Lucas closer to the ladder and the opening over the hatch. Then without warning to them or Lucas, he gave the kid a mighty shove so that he lost his balance and fell down the hole, missing the ladder completely.

* * *

Bridger and the others could only look on in stunned amazement as they heard the startled cry from Lucas as he felt himself falling. They heard a thud to signify that he had landed awkwardly on the shuttle floor. They heard no more after that from Lucas.

Riley now carefully lowered himself down the ladder, still keeping the gun trained on the SeaQuest crew in case they decided to amount a last minute rescue.

"It's been a pleasure, but I really need to be going now. Got a parcel to deliver to my employer," he said and disappeared down the hole.

Bridger and the other immediately ran over to the hatch way and Tony actually started to get onto the ladder in readiness for climbing down to help Lucas. He paused though when he heard voices coming from the inside the shuttle.

Initially they all thought it was Lucas still pleading for the kidnapper to let him go, but as they listened carefully and a little bit closer, they soon realised that the voice came from someone different entirely.

"What are you doing to Lucas" Dagwood asked as he saw his friend laying very still on the mesh floor just under the ladder. He had not known about Riley's plan to kidnap the young genius.

Dagwood had been routinely going about his duties of keeping the ship clean. Commander Ford had bestowed this responsibility on him some months ago after he first came aboard. He made sure that he carried out his required tasks every day. He admired Commander Ford and Captain Bridger immensely and he wanted to prove to them that G.E.L.F.'s could be just as useful in the everyday community as humans.

The next comment they heard from Riley was, "Get out of my way you freak!".

"I'm not a freak, I'm a prototype," came the response from Dagwood with an angry look on his face.

By now he had made up his mind that this man had hurt Lucas somehow. Hurting Lucas was something that Dagwood just couldn't bear. Lucas was one of his closest friends. Captain Bridger had asked him only a day or so ago to keep an eye out for the teenager because someone had already hurt him a couple of days ago.

Riley now came at Dagwood determined that somebody that wasn't even human was going to stop him from achieving his goals and rob him of his prized cargo. He stepped over the unconscious kid on the floor and went to punch the larger man.

Dagwood didn't have much of a problem in restraining him though. The punch hadn't even struck him that hard.

"Get out of the way, Tony," Dagwood now said to Piccolo how was still partly down the ladder. Tony complied immediately as he saw the big man with something in his hands. He couldn't quite see from his angle whether Dagwood had a hold of Lucas or the kidnapper.

Dagwood had grabbed the man in between the groin area and by the back of his shirt collar and lifted him physically into the air. He walked a few paces until he was standing directly under the ladder and then with a surprising amount of force threw Riley back up to the hatch way above.

Riley landed in a confused heap over the top of the hole and barely had time to understand what had happened before the hands of Commander Ford and Miguel Ortiz were roughly grabbing at him and restraining him.

"Did I hit anybody?" a sheepish Dagwood asked as he poked his head up the hole and looked to see where the man had landed.

"Get him out of here. Lock him up in the brig Commander. I will talk to him later," Bridger yelled. He wanted to make sure that Lucas was okay before spending time finding out more about who was responsible for wanting Lucas kidnapped.

Commander Ford and Miguel dragged a somewhat subdued Riley off to the Brig.

"Lucas down here but he not moving," Dagwood now said in a more serious tone to the Captain and the doctor who were still there. He wanted to make sure that his friend was going to be alright.

Within a few minutes, Captain Bridger, followed by Kristin, followed by Tony had gone down the ladder into the shuttle. All of them had felt their hearts constrict at the scene that lay before them at the bottom of that ladder.

Lucas had landed a couple of feet away. Bridger knelt down beside the still unconscious teenager and put his hand to his neck to feel for a pulse. He didn't for one minute think that Lucas was dead, but he needed to feel that reassuring throb underneath his fingers to at least ease his mind some.

The relief was very minor. He gently stroked his hand down the teenager's face and called his name a few times, hoping for some kind of response. There was nothing.

Kristin's first worry apart from Lucas being unconscious was to see about the older head injury and make sure that the kidnapper's actions hadn't caused the stitches to break open or cause any more damage to the wound. She too gave a sigh of relief when there seemed to be no real damage. The stitches were still in place and there was no external bleeding that she could see immediately.

She then moved to the area of the recent blow a few minutes ago in the corridor. Thankfully all she could find was a slightly raised red area on his temple that might leave a small bruise.

Bridger had been too preoccupied with rousing the teenager to notice anything else for the moment and Kristin herself was trying to check the stitches rather than any other injuries at that time.

Tony had been looking at Lucas as the doctor worked. His gaze now travelled down the teenager's body until he stopped when he came to how Lucas had landed. From the way it looked, Lucas must have landed feet first and his legs would have simply collapsed from under him. Now looking at how Lucas's legs lay entangled around one another, Tony couldn't help but notice the odd angle in which his right foot was.

"Um Doc, I think you had better take a look at his foot," Tony said now said, voicing his concerns for the first time.

Kristen immediately stopped what she was doing as did Bridger and both now looked down to where Tony was indicating. Both of them swallowed hard at the sight that Tony had spotted. Lucas's ankle did look as though is was laying funny.

"I'm going to try and move his legs so that they are straight first," Kristin now told them. "Then I might be able to see what is wrong with his foot."

With steady hands she now moved a couple of feet on her knees towards Lucas's legs. She very gently and carefully took hold of his left leg that was on top and tried to straighten it out. Her progress to straighten the limb was slow for two reasons, one to prevent causing any unnecessary pain to Lucas if there was any underlying injury. Secondly, hopefully if he did feel any pain due to her actions, it would help to identify the exact area of pain.

Kristin managed to get the leg about half way straight before there was a moan coming from Lucas, indicating he was regaining consciousness. She heard the moan but kept her mind focused on the job at hand. She left the soothing words and comforting motions to the Captain who was still sitting beside him in the same place.

By the time she had gotten his left leg fully straightened, there had been a few more moans of pain from the teenager. She was certain however that the moans were not from the moving of his left leg. She knew that if his left leg seemed okay, then it could be assumed that if there was any injury to be found it would be to his right leg.

She looked back towards Lucas's face and saw that his eyes were still closed. He hadn't come around fully yet. He was somewhere in between at the moment. Maybe that was a good thing, because if his leg was hurt, then hopefully he wouldn't feel the pain as much.

Again she gently placed her hands on Lucas's right leg. She told herself that there was some injury to this leg. Due to the tightness of the material from the wetsuit, the swollen area around the top of his foot became more obvious now. She couldn't tell at the moment how bad the injury was but the foot was definitely swollen.

As she began to lift the leg, she could hear Bridger telling the teenager that everything was going to be okay. She could also hear Lucas's muffled reply of "What happened?". This thought was interrupted by the shooting pain up that leg that caused him to cry out.

"Ahhhhhh," he said as he made a motion to grab at the area where the pain was coming from. Tony knelt where Kristin had been and together he and Bridger helped restrain the teenager's wandering hands. They could see the grimaces of pain on his face and knew that what ever the problem was, the pain was very bad.

"Shhh, it's okay Lucas. Kristin is having a look at it for you. I know it hurts. We'll have you fixed up soon," Bridger said as he tried to be strong for the boy.

Kristin now managed to stretch out the leg enough to examine it. Lucas had screamed a few more times through the whole thing. Kristin now felt the swollen skin with probing fingers and made her diagnosis in her mind. She knew that there was a definite break in the top of his foot. She could feel the small bones that was responsible and the inflammation that was present around the bones.

Lucas by now was groaning a little more from the pain and bit down on his lip to stop him from screaming so much. He know had a small trickle of blood his lip.

Being such small bones in the foot, Kristin knew that she would have to get Lucas to MedBay in order to fix the problem. She hoped she would be able to mend the broken bones without having to break the skin. She prayed that she wouldn't need any surgery to repair the damage.

"Commander Ford, are you there," Kristin now shouted back up the ladder.

"Yes Doctor, how's Lucas?" Ford answered back.

"He's in a lot of pain Commander, quickly go and get my medical bag from my office. When you come back, I will need two of you to help lift Lucas out of here," she said seriously, with an edge of urgency in her voice.

Commander Ford went as quickly as he could without responding to Kristin's request. Within a short space of time, he was lowering the small bag down to Tony who then passed it to the doctor.

"Just let us know when you are ready," Ford now said down the hole.

* * *

Kristin didn't say anything as she dug around in her medical bag and prepared a syringe of clear coloured liquid. Lucas was still whimpering at the pain in his foot. He was trying to free his hands and move about, as if to roll away from the pain.

He looked up with very red eyes and spotted the needle in the doctor's hand. He knew that there would be no avoiding it, so he turned his head into Bridger's chest until he felt the prick to his upper left arm.

Bridger put his arms around Lucas's shoulders and held him until he was certain that the sedative had taken effect. Within a few minutes he rolled Lucas back and could see that he was now in a deep, drug induced sleep.

"Is he going to be alright?" Tony said. He wasn't normally one bothered by another person's pain, but he couldn't hide the worry about his friend on his face.

Kristin could see the concern on the man's face and her face immediately became softer and full of compassion. When it came right down to it, she knew that Tony cared about Lucas as if he was a brother.

"I think some of the small bones in that right foot are broken. But the bones are too small for me to realign them down here. We will move him to Med Bay where I can make a better assesment on his foot and repair the broken bones. They are very small so they shouldn't take much to mend them back together, but I want to make sure that they are realigned properly," she explained.

"Let's help him out of here okay?" she now instructed both Tony and Bridger.

"Commander we are ready. Tony and Nathan will pass Lucas up through the hole. You make sure that you lift him very gentle up there. He is sedated so he won't be able to help you. And Commander, be very careful of his right foot. The are some broken bones and I need to set them."

"Sure, doctor," Ford answered back. He couldn't help but feel guilty that he and the others hadn't been able to prevent Lucas being hurt any further.

It took a few very tense and awkward moments to manoeuvre Lucas's tall frame through the narrow opening of the hatch way up to Commander Ford's and Miguel Ortiz's waiting hands. Tony and Bridger had been either side of him in the shuttle and lifted him up as high as they could until Miguel and Jonathan reached his arms.

Lucas's head lolled to one side the whole time and they were anguish to make sure that he didn't hit it on any of the metal parts of the hatch way as he travelled through. He didn't need another blow to his head again.

"Come on Lucas, your doing fine," Jonathan said in a gentle tone as he reached the sleeping youth and gripped him under the arms. Miguel waited for Ford to bring him out a little further and then like they were told, carefully took a hole of his legs at the knees. There were a few audible moans of pain through the whole process, but Lucas never woke.

He was now carried by both men down towards Med Bay with Bridger and the others tagging closely behind.

At least they had been able to prevent Riley taking him off the boat they told themselves as they thought about what might have happened.

* * *

Back in the Brig, Riley had been able to communicate with his employer whilst the crew was concerned with rescuing the injured teenager. Riley had seen them carrying the unconscious teenager through the small porthole sized window in the door of the Brig.

He didn't know what was wrong with the kid this time, but hopefully it would help to slow the boy up. If he was moving slowly he would be an easy target for the next person to take him.

Riley knew that he wouldn't get another chance but he could convey the latest turn of events onto his employer, so they could prepare for another attempt to get at the kid and his chip.

"Where is he now?" his employer asked through the communicator that the crew had failed to locate on Riley.

"They are taking him to be patched up. I don't know what's wrong with him but he was out to it when I finally got him into the shuttle. I don't think it's serious. Maybe slow him up some, but not life threatening. You should be able to take him next time with no trouble at all."

"This next time shouldn't have to happen Mr Riley if you had done what you were paid to do. You have failed twice," his employer now said.

"Well it wasn't exactly easy with all of his crew friends around him all the time," Riley said back in anger.

"Well, next time we try we will just have to make sure that he has no friends around to help him, won't we" the employer now suggested.

"I will contact you once you are back on the mainland. It shouldn't be too hard to release you on bail, no matter what charges they pin on you. When they do release you, you just make sure you ready when I tell you where to be. Is the other place ready for our guest? Have the necessary arrangements been made?"

"Everything is still arranged. It is all ready to go. Just needs for him to arrive," Riley now said.

He disconnected the conversation when he saw somebody looking through the Brig window. He hid the small communicating device in the waist band of his trousers again. Unless they were specifically looking for it, they wouldn't find it in a hurry.

to be continued ...


	5. MEETINGS AND OFFERS

THE SECRET DEVICE

By Jules

CHAPTER 5 -

After Lucas had been brought up from the shuttle launch and taken to Med- Bay to assess his injuries, most of the crew were directed to return to their normal duties. Problem was though that not one of them could concentrate after the images of Lucas being held at gun-point kept reappearing.

Kristin had promised them all that she would inform them about how Lucas was doing once patched him up and got him settled again.

Tony had tried his hardest to keep his mind focused on his job. After a while though Commander Ford noticed how bad Piccolo's attention was wandering and so told him to finish his shift early and spend the rest of it in and around his quarters until he heard more about his injured friend.

Back at the Med-bay, Bridger was pacing back and forth, trying to help Kristin with Lucas. He had eventually stepped aside from helping when Kristin gave him a warning look to say that he was more of a hindrance. Now all he could do was watch the doctor as she worked and it was slowly eating away at him.

Lucas was lying on a bed with a white sheet draped over him up to his waist. Kristin would be ready to take a look at the x-rays she had taken a few minutes ago to assess the damage to the small bones in Lucas's foot.

While she was waiting for the x-ray to develop, she now went about tending to the previous injury to his head. She was fearful that the upside glancing that the teenager had received from Riley's gun might have broken open some of the stitches.

She was very relieved to see that although their had been a small amount of fresh bleeding to the stitches being pulled, they were still intact. When she had taken a brief look back inside the shuttle launch, there had been no bleeding that she identify immediately. The small amount that she could now see must have occurred whilst they were hoisting Lucas up the ladder.

As gentle as they had tried to be, there was still some jarring that couldn't have been avoided. The bleed had stopped almost as soon as it started and most of the red liquid had already been soaked up by the strands of blond hair that surrounded the wound area. It was easily cleaned up with some antiseptic and cotton wool while Lucas was still asleep.

"How is he?" Bridger asked. He had already asked about 10 times since they entered the room, but Kristen chose to keep her mind on assessing the teenager's injuries before answering the Captain.

"Fortunately that man's blow to his head didn't cause any more damage," Kristin replied as she now patiently took the time to explain. She knew that the Captain's restlessness was just another sign of his worry for Lucas.

She knew that if Lucas was hurting, Nathan was hurting inside too. Whenever Lucas found himself injured or in trouble of some sort, Bridger found his insides tied up in knots until the problem was solved or Lucas was healed again.

"There was a little bleeding around the edges of the stitches but I have cleaned that up now. Now for the hard part," she grimaced and threw back the sheet over Lucas to reveal the injured right foot.

After she had taken the necessary x-rays, she had gone about packing the bruised and swollen foot in as much ice as she dared without causing Lucas's body temperature to drop too dramatically. Now looking at the injury, she could see that the ice had had very little effect. The foot was still swollen and bruised.

"You stay with him for a moment while I go and get the x-rays of his foot," she instructed the Captain. Bridger now walked over to the bed and absentmindedly stroked the boy's blond hair and forehead in a soothing motion. Most likely the teenager wouldn't be able to feel it anyway, but it made his presence in the room a little more worthwhile.

Kristin soon returned and placed the two x-rays up against the small illuminated screens on the other side of Lucas's bed. She now stared at them intently for a few minutes without uttering a word about what she saw. At one point she even used a magnifying glass to look more closely at the small bones in Lucas's foot.

Bridger now stepped away from Lucas for a few minutes, wanting to know what Kristin's diagnosis was going to be. "Is it broken?" he asked, thinking it was a stupid question but not a very patient person at any time.

"Well there's good news and bad news," Kristin now said as she put the x-ray aside and turned her attention to the foot itself.

"What's the bad news?" Bridger asked, wanting to get the worst of it out of the way first.

"Well there are three small bones broken on the top of his foot," Kristin now said as she leant over the problem area and began to probe about the swollen skin with a very careful finger.

Lucas didn't stir from her administrations but he had moaned a few times and turned his head in an attempt to avoid the pain whenever she had pressed too hard in the wrong area. She had quickly withdrew her fingers to avoid waking him any further and set about getting the tools and materials she would need to patch the foot up properly.

"But you can fix them right?" Bridger asked. "That's the good news isn't it," he added hopefully.

"Yes. The bones are small which makes realigning them a little more trickier than if the break was in a larger bone. There have been a number of break-throughs in relation to casts that we use. I think I will be able to use more flexible one on his foot that will prevent the bones from coming apart and allow them to begin knitting together."

"At the same time, the material it is made is a soft pliable rubber so the cast won't be so cumbersome as if it was made out of plaster."

"How about you go and make us both a cup of coffee. I know I could sure use one. By the time you come back I will have mostly finished and you can help me get him settled into a bed for the night," Kristin said to him.

She could see that the man was a bundle of nerves. She was trying to make it all easier on both him and her. If he wasn't in the room he couldn't be looking over her shoulder every five minutes and distracting her.

The walk from the Med-Bay to the mess hall should help him work out some of the tension in his body and the coffee making would give his mind something to think about other than Lucas.

* * *

Bridger sighed loudly and took Kristen's advice about getting a cup of coffee. He really did feel a little haggard. On his way to the mess hall he decided to stop by some of the other crew members and tell them about what was going on.

All of them were a little relieved that Lucas's injuries weren't as bad as they could have been. Though all of them knew that the teenager was going to be a little more than cranky when he did finally wake.

Tony had been the first person Bridger spoke to about Lucas's condition and now tagged along behind the Captain towards the Med-Bay. Bridger was carrying the two cups of coffee, one piping hot and black filled to the rim of the cup, the other white with sugar and already have drunk. He thought he could use the extra sugar at the moment.

"Hi Doc, how's the patient doing?" Tony said a little too cheerfully for everybody in the room. Truth was it was trying to be funny that stopped the worrying over Lucas. He just couldn't get the image of the kid laying there so still at the bottom of the shuttle launch out of his head.

"He would be doing a lot better if there wasn't so much noise in the room Tony" Kristin threw back in mock seriousness.

"You two are just in time though to help me move him to a bed for the night. I have set the flexible cast on his foot as you can see" she said pointing to the rubber latex cast adorning the teenager's foot.

It was very close fitting, almost like a glove would fit over the hand. It looked very snug and capable of preventing any unnecessary movement that would hamper the efforts of the bones to knit back together properly.

"Nathan, I didn't get a chance to ask you yet about using a spare bed in your room for Lucas over the next week or so. Trying to get on and off that bunk bed in Tony's room would just be too awkward and it would need to be a temporary arrangement for a few nights at least," Kristin asked, already knowing the answer to the question.

"I'll go and get it organized," Tony now said. He looked over at the almost disapproving look that he was getting from Bridger.

"Oh I mean if it is alright with you Captain, Sir?" he said with a smirk on his face. He knew that there was no way on earth that the answer would be no for Lucas staying with him.

"Go on get. Kristin and I will get him there. You had better have a bed ready for him by the time we get there," he warned by then lightly slapped the smaller man on the back in appreciation of his efforts.

Between them, Kristin and Bridger carried the still sleeping teenager the short distance from Med-Bay to the Captain's quarters. However even during that short time span, upon arrival, the place was a buzz with two or three other crew members quickly giving Tony a hand to get a spare bed into the room.

Bridger and Kristin gently laid Lucas onto the couch for a few minutes until every thing was made ready.

When it was mostly organized except for the bedding linen, the other crew members now departed with a thanks uttered from Tony for their services. He now went about putting some sheets on the bed. He looked over at Kristin who could keep the smirk off her face at his bed-making skills or the lack of them.

"Hey I haven't had much practice you know," he said back pretending to be a little hurt by the laughter. He soon gave himself away though and let his own laughter drift in with the others as he tried for the tenth time to get the fitted sheet on the mattress properly.

He would get one end smooth and be ready to do the same to the other end when the first end would come undone all over again, leaving him back to where he started from.

He threw the sheets at the doctor who was still finding the whole situation incredibly funny, "Here you fix it then," he said daring her to do a better job than him.

Both Tony and Bridger watched with their mouth's agape though as the quick and efficient doctor made short work of not only the bottom fitted sheet.

By the time the men in the room took a breath Kristen had the top sheet on, the blanket on top of that and the ends all neatly tucked in the bottom. She slipped the pillows into the pillowcases and then placed them neatly at the head of the bed.

"Any questions?" she said, noting the shocked expressions on Nathan's and Tony's faces that she had been able to do it so quickly.

"Let me just say that you will make a good house wife to someone some day," Tony said with sarcasm dripping from his voice. He had only just gotten the words out of his mouth when he soon found himself eating one of the pillows Kristin had just placed on the bed.

"Come on, don't just stand there you two, let's get this young man into bed and a little more comfortable than on that couch," Kristin now said.

Bridger and Tony picked up the teenager gently, trying not to jostle him awake or cause him any more pain to his foot. They laid him on the cool sheets that Kristen had pulled back slightly. The blanket was then placed over the top.

Kristin frowned slightly now as she looked down at Lucas to make sure he was comfortable enough. His foot needed to be elevated slightly during the night. He was already using two pillows underneath his head. She began looking around the room and soon spotted an unused pillow at the head of Nathan's own bed.

"Hey, that's mine," Bridger said. Kristin gave him a look and then just kept going about what she was doing. She knew Bridger didn't really care if he had a pillow or not so long as Lucas was okay. There would be another three hundred pillows on this boat somewhere if he was that determined to have one to sleep on.

She picked it up from his bed and then pulled back the covers to place it underneath Lucas's leg. She was now happy that the kid seemed content enough. He hadn't awoken to any of the discussions going on in the room or the administrations and fussing that had gone on around him.

"Well, that should be enough for awhile at least. I will check on him again before I go to bed,", Kristin said as she prepared to leave the room and carry out some of the other work she had back in the lab.

"You two should find something to do for a while as well" she instructed, knowing it was likely that the Tony and Bridger would spend the rest of the afternoon keeping a watch over Lucas.

"He will be just fine without you in the room. You can come back every now and then and check on him," she added.

"Oh that's okay Kristin, I already had a task in mind for Mr Piccolo and I anyway," Bridger said with a gleam in his eye.

"Ready to do a little interrogation, Tony?" Bridger asked knowing that it was not strictly navy procedure for somebody of the seaman's rank to be asking questions of anybody. It didn't take a genius to work out who Bridger was talking about interrogating.

"You bet," Tony said with a determined voice and punched a fist into his other open palm to signal exactly what sort of questions he was going to be asking the man who had tried to kidnap Lucas off the sub.

Bridger didn't care though, he was about to ask some questions of his own to the man and he didn't aim to ask politely either.

Kristin just rolled her eyes at the display of macho in front of her. She knew deep down that Nathan knew the rules about prisoners though and wouldn't let Tony or anything else get out of hand.

She doubted Tony would be allowed within 6 feet of the man let alone take a swing at him for Lucas. She knew that there was quite a few others aboard the SeaQuest that would be liking to take a swing at the man as well.

"Just don't do anything that means I have to use my doctoring skills to fix it," she warned and left the room.

* * *

Tony and Bridger now made their way to the Bridge first to see Commander Ford before they made their way to the brig where Riley was being held.

It hadn't taken the two of them very long to convince Commander Ford to come along to talk to Riley. Although all of the people on the bridge had wanted to come and watch the interrogation as well, it just wasn't practical. It would only be the three of them asking questions.

Tony had gotten some dark looks from Tim and Miguel when he offered to video-tape the proceedings and sell tickets to everybody later on. The whole thing would be on video tape anyway. The brig had a 24 hour surveillance camera in it that never switched off so neither Tony or anybody else would be able to do anything or say anything that couldn't be held against them anyway.

Commander Ford unlocked the door the Brig and let the Captain and Tony walk through in front of him before he locked the door behind them again to prevent any hint of an escape for Riley.

Riley had been sitting down before they had entered the room. Upon hearing the lock releasing, he had stood up and was facing them with a determined stance when they came in. They were there to ask questions and he was going to be just as determined not to answer them.

Bridger and Tony stood aside for the moment and let Jonathan control the situation. Ford had been to a number of training camps which specialised in the interrogation of prisoners. Normally they were after classified information about the U.E.O. or organisations that wanted to destroy her and her associates.

Today they were there with a different purpose in mind. None of them took the matter idly either. All three of them had seen the rough house treatment Riley had dished out to the already injured teenager and the man had already admitted to trying to kidnap the youth from the boat on a previous occasion. They weren't about to take chances with Lucas's life again.

"What is you name?" Ford asked in a very serious tone of voice.

"Go to hell, nigger," Riley spat back at him and laughed at Ford's military approach to the whole situation.

"I asked what your name was," Ford repeated, keeping his cool. He knew that he couldn't allow the man's comments get to him no matter how insulting or personalized they might be.

Tony however was starting to get riled already and he hadn't even asked a question yet, "He asked you a question damn it," Piccolo snapped back at the man angrily and took a threatening step towards the man.

Bridger quickly grabbed a hold of Piccolo's arm and restrained him from going any further.

"You tell your girlfriend here, nigger," Riley said and looked directly at Tony when he said the word girlfriend, "That I ain't answering any of his questions and there ain't nothing you or he can do about it."

If Tony had been angry at the man's casual responses before, the comment about '_girlfriend'_ had spurred his anger to new heights and Bridger now had to take a good two handed grip on the seaman to prevent the man beating the prisoner.

"Let me go Captain, I don't need to put up with these comments. I done time on the inside, and been in so many fights I can't remember. I can handle myself. Just let me at him for one second," Tony now said as he tried to break free of Bridger's grip.

"It's not worth it, Tony," Ford now said to Piccolo as he tried to drum some sense into Lucas's friend before he was the one in trouble. "I know what he did to Lucas but you can't let him get to you like that."

"You had better listen to him, _'girlfriend,'_" Riley now said as he interrupted Ford.

"Because he's right you know. I was hired to get that young kid and bring him to my employer and I aim to do it. He's worth a lot of dough to us until we can work out how to work that gadget of his without him. When we are finished with him we will leave him on the side of the road and let you know where you can pick up his body."

Tony had found some extra strength within him as he listened to the man's last spine chilling comment about Lucas being dead. He wasn't going to stand by and let some scum bag say that about his friend. He didn't care if the U.E.O. did kick him out or lock him up again. To him it was worth it.

Before Bridger or Ford could get another grip on Tony to stop him, the ex- con laid a solid punch on the man's jaw-line, sending him sprawling across the other side of the room. Tony now grabbed the keys off Ford and opened the lock on the door and went out. He knew he shouldn't have done what he did but he really didn't care at the moment.

Lucas was laying with his foot all bandaged up and with pain because this man wanted to take him away and hurt him. Tony swore that he would do anything and everything in his power to stop that happening again.

For a few seconds, Bridger and Ford just looked at each other slightly stunned at what they had seen Tony do. Neither of them could blame him.

Riley was still laying on the floor rubbing at his bruised jaw with the back of his hand. He still had enough contempt in him though to have a smirk on his face.

"If he hadn't done it, I would have," Bridger now said to Riley and walked out of the room after Tony. It didn't seem as if the man was willing to give up any information about himself or the men that hired him to kidnap Lucas. He was going to something more worthwhile than let insults be hurled at his crew or about what lay in the future for them.

Commander Ford exited the Brig and relocked the door. He was satisfied that the law would handle the interrogation when they got him back to the mainland. That was only two days away when they docked at Fort Gore.

* * *

Later day Bridger had found Kristin working in the labs as she intended to do. He went ahead and told her about how the interrogation had gone. She had been a little bit alarmed at first about what sort of trouble Tony might find himself in if the authorities got told about it.

Bridger wasn't worried too much though. Although Tony was in the wrong, he fully intended to stand behind his crew member if it came to anything like that. For the moment they had to pool their efforts together and be ready to act on any new attempts against Lucas.

Bridger had told her everything Riley had said about Lucas and making further attempts on his life. She didn't know how anybody could sink so low as to want to hurt the boy again and again.

Bridger had then spoken briefly to Tony who was too busy fuming in his quarters over what Riley had said about Lucas. Kristin had been there with him and both of them told Tony that they all needed to band together to protect the teenager.

Although Tony's frame of mind wasn't much improved when they prepared to leave, they had managed to get his promise not to do anything further to Riley. He had promised not to attack the man again on the proviso that nothing else happened to Lucas.

He ended his little promise by telling Bridger and Kristen that he couldn't promise leaving the man alone if he tried hurting his friend again. If it came to that then all bets were off and so were the gloves.

"Get some sleep yourself, Tony," Bridger said finally as he walked towards the door. He looked over at Lucas's bunk and noted the unused pillows on top. He now grabbed them and headed back out the door towards his own quarters.

Kristin just laughed at him about the pillows and then followed him back to his quarters to check on Lucas again before going to bed herself.

When they first walked over to the bed, nothing looked out of place and Lucas didn't look as though he had moved around too much. But after standing there for a few seconds they could here a few moans of pain escaping from his lips.

Kristin pulled back the covers gently and tried to assess where the pain was coming from that was disturbing the teenager. After her brief examination, she was fairly certain that it was still his foot that was causing the pain and not the stitches in his head.

Bridger had been standing beside her with Lucas's pillows in his hand. She now made a grab for them and began arranging a second and third pillow underneath the teenager's leg to elevate it even more while he slept.

When she was finished and looked back at the Captain, she couldn't help but giggle at the look on his face.

"Sorry, but he can use them more than you at the moment," Kristin said as she bid the Captain and Lucas good night.

Bridger was grumbling about it being a conspiracy on his right to have a pillow for the night. He didn't feel much like fishing around for another one that night and so lay down on his bunk without anything under his head.

The Captain looked over at Lucas in his bed and couldn't help but smile though. One night of no pillow was certainly worth more than causing Lucas any more pain during the night.

"Good night, kiddo," he said and then settled down to sleep for the night.

* * *

The next morning, Bridger slept later than normal. It was his body clock that eventually told him that he should be awake. As he pulled himself into a sitting position he looked over to where Lucas should have still been laying asleep.

He was surprised to see that the bed was empty. He was about to get off his own bed and find out where Lucas was when a voice spoke to him from the other side of the room.

"Don't panic I am over here," Lucas said as he spied the now awake Bridger scrambling off his bunk.

Bridger looked relieved when he spotted the teenager now sitting up on the couch, then his expression turned into one of puzzlement.

"What are you doing out of bed?" he asked, stating the obvious.

"Kristin came by and checked on my over an hour ago. I have even had breakfast," he said and gave the Captain a smile. The smile was quickly wiped from his face though as a sharp stabbing pain of his foot reminded him it was still very sore.

"Did she say you could get around on your foot?" Bridger asked, thinking that the bones needed to knit together before any real pressure be applied to them by the act of walking.

"She went away a little while ago and said she would be back shortly to help me over here anyway," Lucas replied, knowing it wasn't exactly the whole truth.

Before Bridger could shake his head in disbelief though Kristin had returned. She had left to get a few home comforts for Lucas upon his request for his compromise about staying in bed for the whole day. She had agreed to getting him these few things but had told him to wait until she returned to help him over to the couch.

"Lucas Wolenczak!" she said with a little annoyance and worry in her voice.

"I told you to wait until I came back to help you," she reminded him sternly. She immediately went over but secretly knew already that the cast she had put over his foot would have stopped any premature movement of the bones before they had had a chance to heal properly. That was going to take a few weeks not just over night.

"You did, but then I felt a little bored all of a sudden and guilty about the fact of not doing anything for myself," he said in his defence. Hearing the words coming back at him even he wasn't convinced it was a worthwhile excuse.

"Here are the things you requested," she said, handing them over with a little hesitation. "I shouldn't be giving them to you at all after you broke your part of the agreement," she said.

"Do you have any pain at the moment?" she asked wanting a truthful answer this time.

"Not really, just a few twinges every now and then, but nothing that I can't deal with," he said and then his words were interrupted again by a sudden intake of breath from him as another _'little twinge' _went up and down his calf muscle with a little more force than he would like to admit.

"Yeah right, kiddo," Bridger said in a tone of voice that said he didn't believe it for a second.

"He was grimacing just a few seconds before you walked through the door too, Kristin," he said, dobbing he kid in and getting a dark look from the teenager for blowing his cover.

"Oh it's alright Captain, if the young patient doesn't do what's he's told, he has been warned that he will be promptly sedated until his foot heals," she said looking back at the teenager with a warning glance. He had no doubt that she meant every word of it too.

"Okay Okay, I admit it hurts something fierce," he now said in defeat.

"But like you said it's only the first day after the injury and so it's likely to get better in a day or so. It needs to because I have to get to these meetings tomorrow after we dock at the harbour. These arrangements are too important to miss because of a sore foot," he said, with a little more frustration creeping into his voice than he would have liked to.

Bridger now knelt beside the couch so that he was a eye level with the teenager. He wanted to hear everything that he had to say right now.

"Do you really think it's a good idea to keep going with this at the moment, Lucas?" he asked in a gently voice. He didn't want to take away the young man's dream but he was battling his feelings to protect the boy at the moment too and they were becoming stronger by the day.

"Captain you don't understand what's gone into this chip. I know to most of you it's just a piece of silicon which has been programmed to do some special things. But to me it's more than that, Captain," he said. He needed to make them understand how important this was to him.

"It's a chance for me to stand on equal terms with these computer people who think they are so much better than me because I am younger. They think just because they are older than they deserve to make all the breaks and get all of the glory that goes with it. But I am out of prove them wrong and I am going to use this micro-chip to do it," Lucas explained.

"When I make this deal, I won't be just any other kid on the street Captain. I won't be the face in the crowd looking to get a break with his one off invention. I will have created something that makes a difference in people's lives and that's outstanding."

"Do you really think it's worth your getting hurt again though Lucas?" Bridger asked bluntly. It was no good trying to tip toe around the kid anymore. The stakes had become a lot more dangerous now and he needed to know just exactly what type of unscrupulous people he was up against to obtain his dream.

"But I have worked so hard for this, Captain," Lucas said as he laid back against the head of the couch and let the frustration show even more on his face.

"This has been working in my room every night for months on end. Thinking nothing else. Breathing nothing else. Captain you can't take it away from me now when I am so close to making it work for me," he said in a pleading voice.

Bridge sat back on his haunches for a moment and then threw a questioning glance at Kristin to see what her opinion was of all of this. He could see that she too was concerned for his overall safety, but looking now at the defeated looking face next to her it was hard not to let his little speech get to her just a little and pull at her heart strings.

Eventually she gave a small shrug of her shoulders to show that she was prepared to go along with whatever Bridger thought was the best option.

"Okay Lucas, your little story worked," Bridger said with a smile on his face. He was happy to see it returned back to him from the teenager when he sensed he had at least won a small victory over the two adults in front of him.

"But it is going to be choked with conditions," Bridger warned.

"I'll do anything you say," Lucas said excitedly before he realised the words had slipped from his mouth and trapped him.

"Anything huh?" Bridger said to the teenager.

"Okay here are the rules. You are to spend the rest of the day resting with no walking on that foot whatsoever, do I make myself clear?" Bridger warned, wanting the kid to be able to at least physically finish the project he had started before they worried anything else.

Lucas just nodded his head and prepared to the unending list of conditions that he knew were about to be set.

"Secondly, you will have the crew with you at all times tomorrow once we dock. There will be no little excursions on your own to these places, giving anybody the chance to get to you again," Bridger said.

"You mean even at the meeting," Lucas said a little disappointed.

"I wanted to do the meetings by myself so that it meant that much more Captain when I pull it off. I don't mind you all tagging along most of the way, or even into the buildings. But I would like to meet with these people on my own. I want to be able to show that I can set the conditions of sale and control the entire situation."

Bridger thought on that subject for a minute, "Okay, we follow you into the buildings, but you can go into the meetings on your own. We will be watching the door though and you are not to leave the building without us knowing, understand?"

Lucas nodded his agreement again. Kristin seemed to be happy enough with the rules for now. Although they sounded a little restrictive to what the teenager was used to.

There were a number of other basic rules discussed between them all. By the end all involved seemed happy enough with the arrangements made and the precautions taken.

Bridger and Kristin left the room and allowed Lucas to get on with what he called '_last minute adjustments_' before the presentations tomorrow.

* * *

During the day when he wasn't putting the finishing touches on his demonstration, Lucas was making contact with the companies he had already spoken to previously about meeting them tomorrow to discuss the final offers.

Lucas had promised himself and Bridger that he would listen very carefully to all offers and carefully weight them up against each other before making the final choice of which company to go with.

The teenager even shocked Kristin for the rest of the day by being the model patient. He did rest his leg like he was told. A couple of times he had to own up about the pain he was still experiencing.

Kristin had given him some pain killers and promised to make sure she was well stocked up tomorrow as well. She would carry some around with her if he needed them but he was supposed to tell her if his foot got too sore at any time.

When Bridger had left his quarters, he immediately went to talk to the senior crew about what the plans for the next day were going to be. They all would have a day off if they so desired. But once Bridger had informed them about Lucas's day of meetings and his own safety concerns for the teenager, all of them had immediately offered to act as the security team looking out for Lucas.

Bridger had gone a different way with Tony Piccolo and asked him to take on a different task all together. He sent Tony out to organize a celebration party for Lucas after the deal was made.

Bridger wanted it somewhere on the base so that there was the added security factor available but he also wanted it somewhere that meant it was just the crew. Somewhere they were a little out of the way of the real military part of the base and able to relax and kick back a little.

Of course, Bridger was doing all of this and banking on the next day being a success for Lucas. If it didn't turn out like he or the teenager wanted he supposed it could be a commiserations party instead but he was hoping for the more positive outcome.

Tony had already started making a list of food items and party favours to buy the next day. Bridger had allowed the purchase of alcohol but made sure that Tony kept the amount to an acceptable level. With the real threat of someone out there wanting to hurt Lucas, they would all still need to keep their wits about them and not have them clouded over by alcohol.

The various plans that everybody was carrying out that day, most of them were kept fairly busy the whole day. Lucas was shut away in Bridger's quarters working with the chip.

A couple of times Bridger and Kristin had gone to check on him and bring him something or eat or drink. A few grunts of thanks and a few more hmm's to their questions and they left him to his work. His concentration was totally wrapped up on the little piece of silicon that was the cause of all the fuss.

* * *

By the next morning the boat was docking at Fort Gore. Inside it was a hive of activity with people rushing here and there to get things ready on time.

He had only out of bed for two hours before Bridger was wishing that the day was already over. Somehow he knew it was going to be an overly long one for everyone involved. He was sure that there was going to be a virtual tide of emotions throughout the day.

Looking over now at Lucas's face though and somehow all the mayhem and chaos seemed worth it. The kid was beyond excited. At the moment he was seated well out of the way of people traffic, going over his demonstration and what he was going to say to these people once he started meeting with him.

Although there was an air of excitement about the whole, just looking at the teenager Bridger could see the nerves starting to get to him. Lucas struggled to have that self-confidence about himself that naturally afforded people like Tony Piccolo. With Tony it was there even when you didn't want it.

"Hey," Bridger said as he forgot all about the rushing around for a moment and sat down beside Lucas and tried to reassure him that everything would work out just like he wanted it to. "Your going to do just fine".

"How can you be sure about that?" Lucas replied with that tell-tale self doubt.

"You have already done all the hard yards kid. All you gotta do today is go in there and knock em' dead. Just be you and I know you can do it," Bridger said honestly.

Lucas smiled back, appreciative of the support and hoped that he was able to walk into these meetings with just half of Bridger's belief in him.

An hour later, the senior crew and Lucas were now travelling out of the security gate of the U.E.O. Naval Base at Fort Gore and headed towards the business section of town.

They had to travel in two vehicles. But that worked out just fine because it meant that Tony could take one of them to get the party supplies while the rest of the crew waited for Lucas to get finished with his meetings.

Commander Ford was driving the first vehicle and Jim Brody the second. They now pulled up outside the first meeting of the day. Looking out the window, Lucas was confronted by a very tall office block. He swallowed hard and looked down at the list of his contacts making sure he was at the right one at the right time.

"You sure your okay?" Bridger now asked. "We can call back and arrange for another day if you need more time Lucas." he suggested, knowing it wasn't really the best solution.

"No, it's okay Captain. I think this one is the best possibility anyway" Lucas now said as he looked at the notes he had already made on each of the bidders for the chip.

Lucas sat for a few more seconds, trying to get his composure before getting out of the vehicle and heading towards the building. He had dressed how he normally would with jeans and a baseball t-shirt. It was the most comfortable attire on a day that he was feeling the least comfortable.

Besides, he wasn't trying to impress these companies by what he was wearing. They were supposed to be impressed by his intellect and talent with computers. If they didn't like him this way there were plenty of other places that might be willing to bid for his services. He reminded himself that he was the one who had to call the shots or he would never get the respect that he was so desperate to receive.

They took the lift to the 10th floor and Lucas approached the reception desk that was in front of them.

"May I help you young man," said the woman seated at the desk as she looked at Lucas over the bridge of her glasses. She was looking at him like he was some kind of lost delivery boy or something.

The rest of the crew took a seat in the waiting room, close enough to be alert and look out for trouble if necessary. Bridger kept his eyes totally on Lucas in case he needed some help or support. He knew the kid would never ask but sometimes it paid just to be there anyway.

"Yes, I have an appointment with your President this morning please," Lucas said politely.

"Oh really, and what would your name be young man?" the woman scoffed, not believing what he said for a second.

"Lucas Wolenczak," he replied.

"Well, Mr Wolenczak, I am Mr Collins's personal secretary and he hasn't mentioned to me about him having such an important as yourself meeting with him," she said, the sarcasm in her voice difficult to ignore.

Lucas was just about to bristle at the comments hurled his way when the door behind the secretary opened. The man coming out looked up and instantly recognized the young man at the front desk.

"Lucas," he said as he walked forward and shook the young man's hand enthusiastically, "Great to see you, thought you'd already be here by now." he said, not really worried about the time factor.

If the chip that the kid had invented was anywhere as good as he thought, the company would be rolling in money very shortly. He wasn't about to let the kid get away from him.

"Well, I arrived here a few minutes ago, but I couldn't get past your guard dog here," Lucas now said as he indicated the short stout woman who had been so rude to him.

"Really, well she's only here on a casual basis anyway," Collins said as he looked directly at the secretary.

"Her position is due to be filled any day now," he added with a threatening look. He would definitely be having words with her later that day about almost losing a billion dollar potential industry.

"Are these people with you Lucas?" Collins asked, pointing to the crew seated in the waiting room.

"Yes, but they are going to wait out here for me. I thought you and me could go over the final details, just me and you" Lucas said a little boldly. He was biting his cheek on the inside afterwards, waiting for the man's reaction.

"A individual," Collins said as he slapped Lucas playfully on the back. "A man after myself, I like that idea very much Lucas. I think me and you can go great places together," he added.

"Come into my office and we can talk more about the details," Collins now suggested.

"Miss Simmons here will serve us something to drink very shortly he said looking back at her with that demanding look from earlier. The woman was immediately on her feet scurrying to the tea room and trying to make up for her almost fatal-like mistake from earlier.

Bridger and Kristin could scarcely hold back their laughter at the look on the secretary's face as they watched Lucas and the man named Collins go into his office. Bridger decided there and then that Lucas would do just fine on his own for the rest of the day.

The crew waited patiently for the next hour and a half as Lucas continued his secret meeting. When he came out, Collins came out after him. Lucas was finding it hard to keep his composure and not jump and down with excitement at the offer that had just been made to him. He decided to play it cool and dignified.

"So you will be getting back to us later on today Lucas about my offer?" Collins asked hopefully. He really wanted the kid to give him an answer there and then. He had eventually made an offer that was way above what he had originally intended. At the end of the day though, even with the money he was offering the kid, they would still make an out of this world profit on his new chip.

"Well Mr Collins, I do have three other meetings with companies today. I want to take in all of the offers and decide on them in my own time. Let's say I get back to you in a few days?" Lucas said, knowing that the anticipation was just eating away at the man.

"That's just fine Lucas, take all the time you need," Collins lied as he cheerfully waved to the crew as they prepared to leave.

The man was left standing there a bundle of nerves. The kid's chip could really see his company sale above their competitors and be financially secure for a very long time to come. He just had to hope and pray that none of the other offers were going to be as tempting at the one he had just made.

* * *

"So what happened in there?" Tony said as they walked out of the building. He wasn't waiting as patiently as the others and wanting for Lucas to tell them all in his own time.

Lucas now sat down on a seat nearby to try and take in all he had just heard. He could scarcely stop himself from shaking at the offer he had just received from Collins.

Bridger sat by the kid and was at first worried that it hadn't gone as well as the teenager had wanted it too. He was afraid that the kid would lose all hope before he even gave any of the others a chance.

"Didn't do so well on this one huh?" he asked gently, almost waiting for the kid to start on the emotional roller coaster.

"I can't believe what he said in there," Lucas began to say without looking up at anyone. That was when most of them believed that the deal had gone badly at first.

But Lucas now looked at Bridger with a stunned expression on his face which quickly broke into a grin, "You know how much they offered me in there?" he asked.

Bridger thought that the offer must have been well below the figures that Lucas had told them back on the boat. "Don't worry Lucas. Money is not everything. Somebody else may offer more."

"Offer more," Lucas now asked with a puzzled expression on his face. It wasn't until now that it dawned on him that the crew thought the deal must have gone sour.

"Captain, they offered me twenty five million dollars plus an additional ten million for me personally to see over the design process and then all the extras I want. Personal secretaries, assistants, cars, accommodation, an expense account," Lucas now said as he rattled off the list of things that had been thrown at his feet in hope of letting them have his technology before anybody else.

The teenager's head was spinning with the generosity of the offer that Collins had made. When he first started designing the chip he had no idea that it would be so lucrative in money terms when finished.

"Twenty five million dollars?" Kristin now said as the figures finally reached her brain and she realised what he was saying.

The rest of the crew were as stunned as she was. They sat in awe that this kid who was barely old enough to drive a car had just been more money in one year than most of them could dream about or even hope to see in their entire lives.

"Are you going to accept?" Bridger asked, trying not to let his excitement for Lucas over take him. He was ecstatic yes but it had yet to sink into them all yet about what that sort of money would mean to Lucas's current lifestyle and living arrangements.

"I don't know," Lucas said in all honesty. He really wanted to jump up and say yes right now. But he had made arrangements with the other companies to talk to them. He felt a little obligated to at least listen to their offers.

"Well, like you said to that Mr Collins, you have a few more to hear yet. Why don't you just do that and make you mind up at the end of things once you have had a chance to think things through" Bridger now said in complete seriousness. He already was convinced though that Lucas had partially already made up his mind with his first meeting of the day.

Lucas agreed to listen to the other companies and did just that. The next two offers, although substantially less in monetary terms, didn't really wash with Lucas. Whilst money wasn't everything and he wasn't necessarily looking for the offer with the most money, these last two companies had virtually wanted to pay him for his technology but then take it from him and let him have no further part in the design and manufacture of the final product.

That was a pill hard to swallow for the teenager who put so much effort into making the chip in the first place. When he came out of both those meetings, the crew knew instantly that the offers just hadn't lived up to the expectation of control and financial security that Lucas had aspired to earlier.

By the end of the third meeting, Lucas couldn't help but admit that his leg was killing him. He had been getting around okay on the flexible cast, although a whole lot slower than normal.

All of the company president's including Mr Collins had asked about the foot when they saw the teenager awkwardly walking into their offices. On all occasions he had explained it away as a nasty accident and left it at that hoping none of them would ask him to elaborate more.

Kristin was worried about the tired look she could see spreading across the young man's face and was about to say that they should call it a day and put the last meeting off until another day.

Lucas however had told her that there was only one more to go and if they got it over and done with he could rest all she wanted without having to worry about getting disturbed again.

Against her better judgment, Kristin had agreed and given Lucas a couple of pain killers from the bag she carried. She had to admit the teenager had coped pretty well up until now. He hadn't complained once up until now about how much his foot was troubling him. She didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

One more for the day and Lucas would be free to relax for a while and put all of the offers out of his mind until he had enough time to genuinely think about the whole thing without the stress and nerves that he had been experiencing for most of the day.

The next company just plain scared Lucas however. When they all first entered the building, they had no idea that the President of this company was in fact Mr Riley's employer. Nonetheless, the heavy handed tactics of the man behind the offer hadn't worked very well on Lucas.

Were as Mr Collins approach had been open and friendly, even somewhat too close at times. Riley's employer Mr Sykes had been demanding, forthright and even down right threatening at times. He had not made it too obvious but Lucas felt as though the man was trying to force him to sell the chip to his company rather than make an offer of selling it and then overseeing some of the manufacturing processes at a later date.

Sykes was a stout man with a shock of bright red hair that was receding from the front of the man's forehead. When he spoke, the man went almost red in the face when he shouted but the most stand out feature of the man's total appearance was his accent.

Lucas had not known too many people in his life who spoke with such a distinct accent. Sykes was Irish, probably where he got his red hair from too Lucas thought. But the voice and the accent was something the teenager thought he could pick out anywhere if he heard it again.

Lucas had politely listened to the offer even if he felt the man was standing over him at times. The teenager didn't realised that his recent acquaintance Mr Riley was in the other room next to this one listening to the entire conversation.

At the end of the meeting, Lucas had promised to think over the offer as he had done with the other companies. When he got to the door he had to hold himself from almost wanting to make a run for it.

Instead he was physically to walk with a limp as the pain in his leg fired up again. He was actually glad to be to rest it for a while and not walk around on it. He silently thanked Bridger and Kristen for making him stay off it the day before or the pain could be much worse at the moment.

As the crew and he made it out of the building, it couldn't be fast enough for Lucas. When they got outside, it was plain to see that Lucas was a little scared. He went ahead and told Bridger and the others about the man's overbearing speech and how the man practically demanded for Lucas to sell the chip to his company.

Lucas walked away from that building knowing that he wasn't even going to consider that offer made. He just didn't feel right about Mr Sykes. There was something about him that made the hairs on his arms stand on end. He couldn't put his finger on it but something told him to give the man and his company a wide berth entirely.

* * *

Back inside Sykes's office, a different conversation was happening entirely.

"Well that didn't go too well did it?" Riley jibed at his boss, knowing that the kid was more scared by the offer rather than thrilled with it.

"Shut Up. It doesn't have to go well anyway," Sykes said as he knew he had a totally different idea altogether of getting the kid to cough up his chip. "You just make sure you follow them before they get too far."

"Don't worry, I have everything under control," Riley said. "I am taking two sidekicks with me in case we need the muscle power," he added. "Just be waiting for us at the rendezvous place when I get there with the kid."

"Make sure you don't rough him up too much though. I want him eventually to be able to tell us where the chip is and how it works. He can't do that if you bust him up. Just keep him quiet until I get there." Sykes now instructed Riley.

"Don't worry, I am not going to use too much force. I have lots of snake juice to put the kid out for a month. I will hit him with a large dose when I take him and then before we reach the cabin. I'll make sure he has a gag in his mouth too just in case he gets any cute ideas about shouting for help from his friends."

Back inside the U.E.O. transport with the crew:

"So what are we going to do now? Head back to the boat?" Lucas asked as they got back into the vehicles once again and started moving.

"Lead on Mr Piccolo" Bridger said indicating Tony to take them to the party he had arranged.

to be continued ...

This section of story is dedicate to Royce De Applegate from the first series who I was told passed away over the Christmas and New Year sometime. (I don't have many details). Although he wasn't my favourite character, he rounded off a show which did become my favourite and I thank him for being a part of it. Every time I watch an episode now I won't be able to not think of him as Chief Manilow Crocker.


	6. TAKEN

THE SECRET DEVICE

The place that Piccolo had chosen for the celebration for Lucas was a little bit out of the way. But was all part of the planning.

With the threats that had been made towards Lucas about his newly created micro-chip, Bridger wanted to ensure that security was paramount at all times. Going to somewhere more public where there were just too many people around was not the ideal situation to be in should something go wrong.

Tony had chosen a large hanger building that was large enough to hold everyone that was invited. Not that it was a particularly big party in the first place. Just mostly the senior crew from SeaQuest and a few of the others that Bridger had specifically asked to be there for Lucas.

The hanger backed onto a nature reserve and then the main highway. The was a number of tall trees and bushland to give them seclusion and notice anybody that might be approaching by vehicle. There was a security fence along one side provided by the airforce, but it was rarely patrolled this far away from the main base.

What Tony didn't count on was that Riley had trailed them most of the way, but now was on foot through the trees with his two henchmen. They decided to sit and wait before putting together a plan.

The time was now just upon dusk and the light above the tree line was fading, turning the area in shadows and twilight.

There was plenty of food on the few tables at the end of the building. The two large sliding doors on the side were fully opening, allowing people to mingle either just inside the doorway or outside in the cool but comfortable night air.

Kristin was beginning to be worried that the day had been too much physically for Lucas. The teenager sat in the middle of a row of fold up chairs. Some of the other crew members were busy dancing to some of the music that was playing in the background.

Lucas had a slight smile on his face and seemed to be enjoying the atmosphere, but his eyes looked slightly red from tiredness and he couldn't hide the grimaces of pain that moved across his face from time to time as his leg played up a little.

The teenager's mind still hadn't shut down for the day after everything that had taken place. Numbers and information was still running through his brain about what had been discussed at the meetings. He was fairly sure that he was going to accept Mr Collins's offer.

It gave him the most recognition for the work he had carried out and gave him the freedom he desired to be involved in the manufacturing, marketing and final design step of the whole process. He also couldn't ignore the money that had been offered to him, but that wasn't totally the reason he made that particular choice.

Bridger and Kristin both approached the teenager, taking up seats either side of him. "How are you doing honey?" the doctor asked honestly.

"Actually, I am quite tired," Lucas admitted, "But I am having a great time, honestly," he added, trying to convince the two adults beside him.

"Uh-Huh," Bridger replied in a tone of voice that suggested he didn't believe the kid for a second.

"No really, I am, even if I am stuck sitting here like a rock," he said, grinning back at the Captain. "I can't dance anyway." He raised his glass of soft drink in a toast just to prove it.

Unfortunately it was only soft drink due to the painkillers that Kristen had given him only a short time ago. Alcohol and medication just didn't mix and it was better to be on the safe side rather than sorry later and suffering from the effects.

"How about you Kristin, would you like to dance?" Bridger asked Westphalen.

"Why Captain, I would be delighted," Kristin replied with a sparkle in her eye. "Are you sure you are alright Lucas. Is you leg still hurting very much? she asked, feeling a little guilty at having to leave Lucas out of all the fun.

"Just fine," Lucas said, tapping lightly at the flexible cast and inwardly holding back the moan of pain that was on the edge of his tongue. He didn't want the Captain and doctor spending the entire party worrying about him or his leg. I was supposed to be a happy occasion after all.

* * *

From where the three hidden figures were in the trees, Riley could now see the teenager sitting all by himself and most of the others dancing some distance away.

Despite the opportunity that seemed to present itself, it was still too much of a risk to try and get to the teenager before anybody else seen them. They needed a distraction or diversion that would give them more time to snatch the youth away before everybody even realised that he was even missing.

Seeing Doctor Westphalen and Lonnie Anderson among those dancing, Riley suddenly had an idea about how they might cause the necessary distraction and gain the extra time they needed at the same time.

Riley and both of his men were all wearing black clothing so as to hide in the shadows and darkness as much as possible. It was now one of those henchmen who began creeping out of his hiding place towards those dancing in the group.

The man had singled out his decoy target as Lonnie Anderson, mainly due to her petite frame and slight built. Without so much as a warning, the man running out at Lonnie, with the intent of attempting to grab her on the way through.

Lonnie screamed a split second before anybody else knew what was going on as she spotted the dark figure racing towards her from the trees. She then felt the man try and physically grab a hold of her and screamed again, attempting to pull away from her attacker.

The man's attempts to grab Lonnie were only half-hearted ones before he took off past the group towards the trees again. It was now that the other crew member's except for Lucas took off after pursuit of the brazen culprit.

Lucas had gotten to his feet and now struggled with his crutches through the row of chairs, trying to go after everybody else. He knew he would never catch up to them or even get close but he told himself that he had to something.

Riley and the other henchman could now see Lucas shuffling slowly after the others through the trees and underbrush. They began to make their way silently after the young man.

After a few minutes, Lucas came to a halt. His foot was killing him and he knew the lecture he was going to get from Bridger and Kristin about trying to go after everybody else.

The night was particularly dark and Lucas shivered slightly at the coolness due to the canopy. He could scarcely see more than three front of him and he began to feel the hairs on his arms rise slightly with the nervousness that he was beginning to feel. He would be the last to admit to the rest of the crew that the dark was still one of his long ago childhood fears.

Lucas went to take a step forward when one of his crutches snapped a twig on the ground in half. The sudden noise made him jump slightly and he now began moving in a backwards direction, trying to peer into the night for a sign of any of his family or friends.

Lucas was about to curse at himself and tell himself off about how silly he was being about the darkness when a pair of arms came out from behind the bushes and trees and snaked around the boy, preventing him from going anywhere.

Lucas went to scream for help when a gag was jammed roughly into his mouth and then a hand clamped down hard over it. Lucas was now using his arms to try and release the grip of his more powerful assailant. The crutches had fallen away to the ground nearby.

Quite a number of metres away, Bridger and some of the other crew member's stopped when they heard what sounded like a muffled cry for help. It was only now looking around at each other that it dawned on them all that somebody was missing: Lucas.

They completely forgot about the man who had tried to attack Lonnie and started back towards the party. The one thing they had tried hard to do to their utmost for the majority of the day: protect Lucas.

The teenager was hardly in a position to be defending himself at the moment or being able to run away from any assailant. Bridger now realised that the attack on Lonnie was a ploy and it had worked to perfection to divert their attention from the real victim: Lucas.

"Lucas," Bridger called out as they made their way back. But there was no reply.

Bridger wasn't even sure that the teenager had followed the rest of the group into the trees. The last place he had been seen was sitting on the row of chairs watching his friends dance. That was all before they took off chasing after the dark figure and none of them had stopped to think about Lucas and what danger he might be in or what peril they may have put him in by leaving him alone.

The group quickly came upon the set of crutches laying on the ground. They were now certain that Lucas had been nearby. But where was he now. Bridger called out his name again loudly as did the other crew members is opposite directions.

There was no reply to their calls. Lucas's kidnappers had dragged the vulnerable teenager into the bushes and trees not too far from where the crew was standing now, but he was been held down forcibly but his two captors.

The gag remained securely in his mouth and the hand was still clamped over it, preventing him from making even the slightest noise that may alert his friends to his whereabouts. The second man was holding the teenager down on the ground and stopping him from moving around.

Bridger picked up the pair of crutches and began walking back towards the party area, talking to the other crew members along the way about what sort of search plans they were going to put into place.

They were all fairly sure now that somebody had Lucas and they may need more assistance than just themselves to find the young man. They could only hope that a clue had been left somewhere as to who may have taken him or where he might have been taken.

Everyone knew about the injury to Lucas's foot and how much that would impair any sort of escape. They could only hope that the captors hadn't hurt him any further.

"Did anybody see Lucas after we started running through here?" Bridger said turning to the others to ask the question.

"No Captain," Tony Piccolo answered. He too was worried about his young friend's whereabouts. It was like he just vanished into thin air.

"Did anybody hear any vehicle or such?" Kristin now said trying to think of the clues that would lead them to the missing teenager.

"If there was one, it must have been awful quiet," Tony surmised. "The only road that a car can drive on is high on the ridge over there behind the trees. They must have been actually on foot to grab Luke." he added logically.

"That's right Tony and that means that we have at least a little time to try and find them before they make it back to their vehicle with Lucas," Bridger now thought rationally.

"I feel really bad about all of this, Sir," Lonnie Anderson now said to Captain Bridger. "That's man's attempts to grab me were all just a ploy weren't they to get us all away from Lucas." She felt incredibly guilty that Lucas had been the intended target and not her as everyone had previously thought.

"Don't worry about it Lonnie," Kristin said on the Captain's behalf. The crew knew that Lonnie was feeling bad but they didn't think any of them would have been able to predict what the kidnappers had in mind.

While the SeaQuest crew were looking around for any pieces of information or clues that might lead them to Lucas, the two kidnappers now dragged a violently struggling gagged teenager through the trees towards their waiting vehicle.

The man who had attack Lonnie Anderson was waiting by the vehicle when they got there. He could see that his two accomplices had at least achieved what they set out to do. They now had the kid like their employer had asked. Now it was time to carry out the next faze of their operation in recovering the chip and finding out how it worked.

As tired as Lucas was, he was now working on pure adrenaline and fear as he saw the car in front on him as he was dragged along. He had tried to stop them taking him. He had fought hard, but with two of them and his slight frame it just was no match. He didn't have much of a chance.

"Stay still you little bastard," one of the henchmen said as he tried to get Lucas's hands behind his back. But the teenager was determined to give them as much hell as possible before he would submit.

"Just leave it until later, we have to get out of here in case they come looking for him further a field," Riley now told his partners.

Lucas now found himself being shoved roughly into the back seat of the older model car. Riley got in and drove with one of the men in the passenger seat beside him and the other making sure that Lucas didn't go anywhere.

The man in the backseat with Lucas made sure that all of the window were wound all the way up and that the doors were locked to prevent any premature escape ideas the kid might have.

"Keep him down back there," Riley shouted as he could see Lucas's head popping up and showing through the window through the rear view mirror. The last thing they needed right now was for somebody driving along to spot the boy before they got him to the pre-arranged destination.

The man roughly made Lucas partly lay down along the back seat but the teenager was still determined to give his captors a hard time.

"I've had enough of you sunshine," the man with Lucas now said harshly and delivered a hard blow to the youth's left temple. It had the desired affect, rendering the teenager unconscious and now slumped over the seat rather than laying across it.

"Good, now we can get out of here," Riley said with a little edge to his voice. The plan had gone off and they had the prize catch they had come looking for but it hadn't gone quite as smoothly as he would have preferred.

"No need to tie his hands now anyway," the other man in the front with Riley said with a chuckle at the boy's state.

For the next five minutes, Riley had to manoeuvre the vehicle over slightly rough terrain and pot holes. A couple of time he had winced as the car would bottom out against the rocks underneath. He now cursed himself about not having a four wheel drive.

* * *

Back with the SeaQuest crew, Bridger and the others had gathered everything up as quickly as possible and split up into the two vehicles once again, heading for the main highway and back to U.E.O. Headquarters.

Once back on base, they would be able to alert the proper authorities about Lucas's disappearance and possible kidnapping and put together a rescue mission themselves. They also had to be there in case the kidnappers tried to call with any demands.

Unfortunately for the crew, they all suspected why Lucas had been taken because of the earlier attempts back on the boat. However even now they had no idea where Lucas's so called miracle micro-chip was hidden. They hoped that the teenager didn't have it with him.

The U.E.O. transports soon reached the main highway that would take them back to the base but unknown to them right now was the fact that the kidnappers and the car carrying an unconscious Lucas were on the same highway but headed in the opposite direction. They were still a fair distance apart for the moment.

Riley was now stopped along the roadway on a side lane because something was wrong with the engine. He had pulled up and was kicking the crap out of one of the wheels in frustration. It wasn't as if they had to go very far in this car he reminded himself.

After they took the boy, the plan was to get him to a rubber dinghy that was waiting on the shore line nearby to take him halfway across the waterway to an island. There wasn't anything on the small mound of rocks except a pumping station maintenance shed. This is the place that had been chosen to hide the kid until their employer got the micro-chip they were looking for.

Thankfully for Riley there was a small amount of constant traffic along the highway so as not to make them stand out from any other broken down vehicle beside the road.

Bridger and Ford's vehicles were now approaching the place where Riley and Lucas were stopped. Lucas had regained consciousness when the car pulled up but up until now he had been feigning unconsciousness whilst trying to get a better view of his predicament without the gorilla beside him being rough with him again.

Lucas could here the sounds of other cars driving by so it was safe to assume that they were on a road somewhere. If only he could get a passer-by's attention to help him. He looked across at the man seated beside him through slightly opened eyes and decided that now was the best and probably only opportunity he was going to have of alerting someone to his forced captivity.

The other henchman was out with Riley trying to work out what was wrong with the car. The U.E.O. vehicles with the SeaQuest crew in them were now in sight of the kidnappers.

Riley turned away from the light so he remained mostly concealed by the shadows, but it was then looking back at the car that he could see the teenager's arm and hand raised and waving about as if to alert somebody. Thankfully the kid's face wasn't showing through the window.

"Would you keep a better on him huh, Frank," Riley shouted through the glass, pointing at the teenager's brief attempts to signal for help.

The man called Frank now quickly grabbed a hold of the raised hand and forced it back down again, holding it forcefully against the boy's body. "I told you to stay down," he said and now shoved Lucas from the seat to the floor of the vehicle.

Lucas was made to lay on his back with his face looking back at his captor. To add insult to injury the man now put his heavy booted foot down on the teenager's chest just to make sure that he didn't made any further attempts to get up or alert anybody with his arms.

"How you doing down there now kid?" the man joked at the kid and pressed a little harder down with his foot until he got a muffled moan of pain from the teenager.

Lucas knew now that there was now immediate help coming for him. All of his attempts so far had been thwarted and he didn't know where or when the next opportunity might present itself, if it ever did.

The SeaQuest vehicles drove right by Riley and his vehicle. To Bridger they looked like another vehicle just stopped by the side of the road. They hadn't asked if they needed any help because there was more than one person standing by the side of the vehicle. They had to get back to the SeaQuest as quickly possible, not knowing that they had already passed the person they were all so worried about.

Riley and his henchmen waited about half an hour by the side of the road, wanting to be totally sure that the SeaQuest vehicles weren't going to come back in a hurry.

Now satisfied that they were alone and with the traffic now very infrequent along the road, Riley moved to the other side of the car and gave the order for his partner to remove the teenager from the car.

The kidnappers gathered what other pieces of equipment they needed for their operation and carried it in backpacks with them.

Lucas couldn't help but groan in pain as he was force to stand on the rough ground with his injured leg. He didn't know if he could walk on it and didn't even want to try for fear of the pain in his foot getting worse.

At the end of the day however, Riley hadn't given the teenager much of a chance to say no and told Frank to stay with him and make sure he didn't try and make a run for it.

Frank just looked at him with a stunned expression as he looked at the kid's leg in a cast and grumbled about how he had gotten the rough end of the bargain. The other two men were walking down the slope of the roadway towards the shore line without any other burdens to worry about but themselves.

"Come on kid I don't like this anymore than you," Frank said gruffly, and start to push the kid forward making him take an unsteady step forward. Lucas could hardly see the comparison between himself and the man.

Upon his injured foot taking his weight with the steps he was made to take, Lucas was barely able to keep from screaming at the top of his lungs from the excruciating pain that results. The gag was the only thing stopping the heart felt screams.

By the time Lucas had been forced down the slope and into the brief tree line before the shore line and waiting boat, his face was very pale and tears had been streaming down his face.

Frank looked back at the kid and couldn't help but feel a little pang of guilt at the pain the teenager looked to be in. Even though he earned his living in a dishonest way, he didn't like to see out right suffering.

"Say Riley have you got that snake juice there with you at the moment?" Frank asked as Lucas was allowed to sit at the base of the tree. Riley and the other man were rummaging around in the supplies in the rubber dinghy, making a final check that they had everything they needed before setting off.

"He's not going to last much longer anyway, might as well make it easier on him," Frank suggested as he looked down again at the boy's pale and sweating face.

'Here make him take two now, I will give him something a lot more stronger when we get to the island," Riley said, tossing the bottle back towards the man but not bothering to look where it landed.

Frank shook two of the white coloured pills from the small bottle and then put the sealed bottle into his jacket pocket. He held out his hand towards the kid with the two tablets sitting in the palm.

"Here kid, take them, they will make the pain go away," Frank now said, hoping that the kid would be naïve to believe they were just painkillers.

Lucas however gave the man a scowl as if to say "how dumb do you think I am". His eyes flashed with out rage of being bound and gagged. Pain or no pain there wasn't any way on this earth he was going to take anything offered by these men.

Frank rolled his eyes at the defiant look on the kid's face which had turned once again back to pain. He didn't have time to muck around with him. He was going to take them like it or not.

The man now grabbed Lucas's head forcibly with one hand and pressed it hard against the trunk of the tree. With the other hand he yanked gag out of his mouth, leaving it loosely about his neck. Frank now tried to pry open the kid's mouth and make him swallow the tablets.

Lucas had tried to hold his breath to prevent the tablets being inserted into his mouth, but unfortunately he couldn't hold it very long and was made to takea breath. It was when he took that breath that the man was able to stuff the pills into his mouth. The man held Lucas's jaw shut until the pills slit horribly down his throat without any water to stop the bitter taste.

Satisfied that the kid had at least swallowed the pills, he now released the boy's head and watched for a few seconds to see if they were going to take effect.

Lucas had tried to fight against the drug but after a few minutes found his head spinning and becoming foggier and foggier.

"Come on Frank, they will work soon enough, get him over here and we will hide him underneath this cover until we get there," Riley now said, trying to hurry the man before any of their doings was witnessed by someone.

Lucas barely felt the large arms that lifted him up into a standing position. He looked out through his eyes, but couldn't quite work out when or who he was. He could feel his feet moving and could note a large amount of pain for some reason. But other than that Lucas didn't know what was going on. He was well on the way to being under the drug-induced cloud.

The teenager was placed into the rubber dinghy and made lie down against one of the sides. Riley now tossed an old rough cover over the top of the kid in case they encountered anybody else on the water before getting to the island.

For now they couldn't even see a shock of the boy's blond hair poking out from underneath the fabric. By the time the engine on the dinghy started them across the water, Lucas had succumbed fully to the effects of the drug in him and was deeply asleep in the boat.

to be continued...


	7. RANSOM DEMAND

**THE SECRET DEVICE**

**By Jules**

**CHAPTER 7 - RANSOM DEMAND**

**_Piperfly: So glad you enjoy what I write, even though the updating is not as often as I would like. Especially this story. The plot for this story got changed several times and got lost a long the way a little I think, but hopefully you will enjoy the new parts._**

**_Sara: Please keep reading this story, even though the readers out there have long since believed I abandoned it._**

**_FishFace12: I am ready to start writing this one again now. Thanks for understanding about the updating._**

**_Heidi: Hope you like how this plot is panning out now with the changes and new scenes._**

**_Radical Ed 85: I hope I got your penname right. No apologizes necessary, and I truly appreciate the reviews. They keep me motivated and encouraged to write more._**

**_Mercedes Aria: Now that I think enough time has passed, the story will continue as I planned, with a few added scenes that I thought of. Please let me know what you think of this new chapter._**

**_Wolenczak2002: What a great penname for a SeaQuest fan. Wish I had thought of it. Thanks for the support of my stories. So glad you like them._**

**_Yingfa77: Thanks for reading. I know we were all very saddened, but I plan to write heaps more to keep his character Lucas alive and his memory strong._**

**_Karmynah: I do understand what you mean, but I did think it a little bit strange to write him again so soon after his death. That is no excuse for the time this update took, but anyway. Please keep reading._**

**_Diana: Six chapters in less than half an hour, looks like I need to write longer chapters or more complex plot lines LOL. Thanks so much for reviewing. He will be found, don't worry, but that may not be the end of the story. You know me, more twists and turns in my stories._**

**_TeacherTam: Thank you muchly for adding me to your author alert list. Now I do feel kind of special, and pressured to keep writing for all you readers out there I may have let down in the past._**

Frank pulled the end of the rubber dinghy up onto the shore line of their small island hideaway. The place was littered with large rock formations and caves. The perfect place to keep the kid hidden until someone came up with the microchip and a great deal of cash ransom for his return.

Riley pulled back the tarpaulin that had covered the top of the boat whilst they took the short journey from the mainland across the water. The teenager still seemed to be asleep due to the drugs in his system.

"Grab a hold of him and take him inside," Riley barked, taking a surveillance of the area, making sure that their activities were not being witnessed by anyone.

Frank did as he was told and hoisted an unconscious Lucas over his shoulder and began to walk up the steep rocky climb to the intended cave. To the untrained eye, they all looked the same. But upon closer observation, one would see that this cave has a much larger entrance. The inside of this particular cavern was larger too, spanning back several hundred metres inside.

It was here that Riley and Frank planned to keep their young hostage until the ransom demands were made and the transaction complete. Riley had planned from the beginning not to hand the kid back to his family, but just what he would do when that time, he didn't know right now.

"Quickly, get him inside," Riley said as shoved Frank from behind, trying to get him to move faster with his human burden.

Once inside the cavern, they were mildly surprised. Not only had Sykes gone to the extreme measures of outfitting the cave with electric lights and other fittings; they noted that there were boxes of supplies and equipment dumped in one corner as well.

"Looks like he planned everything, right down to the wire, don't it?" Frank commented as he looked at the amount of supplies. He could only guess that Sykes intended for him and Riley to remain with their captive until otherwise, and that could be a few days or more.

As they moved further into the cave to see what facilities Sykes had installed, they noted a small room carved out of the granite face. Inside the floor was made out of the same stone and the walls. It was obviously meant as a good storage room, to keep smuggled goods and contraband until it was deemed safe enough to bring them back onto the mainland.

The room was small, but it would also serve good as a prison cell for their young friend until the exchange arrangements could be negotiated with the SeaQuest crew and Captain Bridger.

"Put in him there," Riley instructed. "He can't go anywhere in there and if wakes up and tries to escape, we will see him before he gets too far towards the front entrance."

Frank did as he was told and laid the unconscious youth on the cold, hard floor. He noted a fine layer of sweat on the boy's forehead and wondered if Riley had noted the same yet. "He's not getting sick is he?" he voiced, not wanting to have to take care of a sick kid while they were stuck on this island.

"Nah, probably just from the pills you shoved down his throat," Riley replied, not really having any idea, but not wanting to believe that the kid was sickening either. Sykes would not be happy at all if the kid couldn't tell them where the microchip was hidden.

"All the same, we had better keep a close eye on him," Frank commented, before leaving the small room for a moment and opening up one of the large crates in the larger cavern. Inside he rumbled through the various items, hoping there would be something useful.

Frank walked back into the room, and draped a thin blanket over Lucas's unmoving form, still frowning at the pale look of the kid's face. He didn't like how the kid looked at all, but did not mention it further to Riley.

"You're not going soft on me now are you?" Riley jibed at him, with a smirk.

"No, I just want him to last long enough for us to get our hands on the ransom money and that microcrip," Frank retorted, quickly exiting the room.

"Yeah, me too, which reminds me, Sykes left us a video camera. When the kid is awake later, we have to make him say a few words into it and then send it off to Bridger and make sure he understands what will happen if he doesn't tell us where that microchip is," Riley said.

"Alright, but first, I am going to have some of this good food he's got stashed in these boxes," Frank said.

"Have you seen some of this?" he asked Riley, pulling out some of the canned goods that had fancy names on the label. Sykes never believed in half-doing things, that was for sure.

* * *

It was approaching late into the evening aboard the SeaQuest when Captain Bridger was found sitting in the mess hall at a table, all by himself. His thoughts were troubled, and focused on finding only one thing: Lucas.

He had been lost deep in his own thoughts when Kristen came to see if he was alright. Without saying anything, she put a comforting and reassuring arm around him and sat down at the table beside him.

"We will find him, Nathan. You have to believe that."

"I believe that. But does Lucas?"

"Wherever he is, I am sure he will know how much we all love him and want him back safe with us."

"Who could have done such a thing, Kristin? Where is he now? He might be hurt somewhere and we don't even know it. He already has an injured foot. I am sure whoever took him won't be concerned about that or even take any notice if Lucas is in pain or not."

Kristin could only offer what she believed to Nathan, knowing how deeply he felt about the missing teenager. By now, they were fairly sure that Lucas had been taken by force. By whom and for what purpose, had yet to be seen.

Hurried footsteps could be heard approaching them from behind, causing both of them to turn and see who it was. It was Commander Jonathan Ford, and in his hand he was waving what looked to be a video tape.

"I am sorry, Captain. This just came across Admiral Bill Noyce's desk. No one has seen it yet, knowing you would want to be the first. It might be from those who have taken Lucas."

Bridger snatched the tape out of the Commander's hand, scarcely able to take in what his senior officer was saying. Part of him wanted to open it, though part of him dreaded to think what they might see or hear on such a tape.

"Have those concerned, met me in the Ward Room in five minutes, Commander," Bridger ordered sharply and strode off with determination in his step. Up until now he had been dwelling too much on what had already happened. If they stood any chance of getting Lucas back safe and sound, he need to be alert, vigil and above all else, ready to spring into action when the time came.

Bridger had been sitting alone, turning the tape over and over again in his hands, almost hoping that the secrets inside would reveal themselves without him having to watch the entire thing. But then again, this was the only clue they had so far as to where Lucas was, that's even if they could determine that from the contents.

The senior crew members filed into the room as requested, one by one, giving the Captain a look of understanding and empathy. They too were concerned for Lucas's welfare, and this showed on Tony just as much as Bridger.

Dagwood was also allowed into the room, though he wouldn't understand the technology as much as others. He sat behind Tony, but did not offer any conversation.

Since returning to the SeaQuest, Piccolo had nearly driven himself insane with going back over the whole day and trying to work out if they had been followed, and if so by whom. He tried to remember every face he had encountered that day, some were still fresh in his mind, others barely a blur. Nothing to give him any help or Lucas. At one point, he had angrily punched his hand into Lucas's top bunk mattress, feeling so useless.

Tony now made sure that he had a close enough view of the screen they would be all watching. Like Bridger, he too wanted to take in every detail and action that played on the tape to be able to find his friend.

Once everyone was ready, Bridger inserted the tape into the video player, and stood now, waiting for it to begin. He gave a quick mumble of apology when he glanced back at the crew and saw that they were watching his nervousness.

**_(Author Note: this scene combines two things into one. Firstly, what Bridger and the crew would be watching on the tape. And secondly, what actually happened back in the cavern between Lucas and his kidnappers once he began to regain consciousness. Hopefully it flows okay and every can understand what is going on.)_**

The video started, but at first all they could see was a black screen. As the colour became better and the image focused a little more, the crew were able to see stone walls. The camera recording the message must have been elevated a little, as they could also see a hard floor.

They couldn't see who was operating the camera at first, but muffled voices could be heard talking in the background.

"Are you sure its working okay?" came one voice.

"Sure, I have used these things before, don't ask so many question. Relax. The kid ain't even awake yet."

It was this statement that alerted Bridger and the others to the fact that Lucas might be nearby. And just as they pondered this thought more, the camera moved to pan around the room more. At first, it was one quick sweep of the stone walls, which must have made up some kind of room. It was small and crammed from what they could see on the screen.

It was as the camera flashed past the far wall that Tony gasped out loud at seeing something leaning against it. "Lucas!" he shouted, not able to get a clear picture. The camera was being held in someone's hand, and because of this, its focus was taken away from that part of the room again.

"Your going too fast," came the first voice again. "We need them to be able to see him."

"Don't tell me what to do," came Riley's voice.

Commander Ford frowned a little, thinking that he had heard this voice somewhere before, but not being able to put a name with it or recall where he knew it from.

With the two of them arguing in the background, the camera was being waved back and forth about the room for a few more moments, with no real fix or position. The light was poor also.

"Set it over there and point it at the wall. They should be able to see everything that is going on," the first person now instructed. Frank decided that he wasn't going to be ordered about by his partner and took it upon himself to make up his own mind about how the ransom message should be filmed.

There was no reply to the instruction, but instead of the camera being stabilized on a table or something, Frank had secured it around his neck with the attached carry strap and now adjusted the lens so that the camera pointed at the stone wall again.

This time, the position of the camera was much closer, giving them a better and sharper view that before. With a lump lodged in each of their throats, the crew could all see that it was indeed Lucas that was lying there on the hard floor.

"He's not moving," Kristin said as she stood and tried her best to determine what was wrong with Lucas without being closer. "The flexible cast is still on his leg, but I can't tell from here if there has been any further damage or not.

"What have they done to him?" Tony asked, restless in his seat at seeing his friend like that.

"Bad men have Lucas," Dagwood now said plainly. He shrank away a little when the rest of the crew turned towards him at hearing the statement.

"Yes, Dagwood, bad men," Bridger said with a small smile to the larger man. The G.E.L.F. might not be the most adept out of the crew at speaking, but he certainly hit the nail on the head correctly.

"We have to go get him," Dagwood now said, wanting to rush out as everyone else did. He didn't quite understand why everyone was merely sitting here when Lucas needed help.

"Yes, Dag, but we don't know where Lucas is at the moment. These _'bad men'_ have hidden him away. That's why we are watching this tape, so with any luck we can work out where they took him and then we can go and rescue him," Tony explained, with a patience rarely displayed in the ex-con. "Shh, now, we need to listen."

Suddenly, one of the men became the spokesman for the group, delivering the message.

"Captain Bridger of the SeaQuest. By now you are watching this tape and can see that we have your young crew member here with us. He is being held captive as our hostage at the moment and will remain so until you come forth with the microchip."

The voice was drowned out for a moment on the tape by a large horn blowing. The tone was deep and consistent for a few minutes before it ended. Bridger listened intently as he tried to work out what had caused the noise.

"If you do not come up with the microchip in 48 hours, then the consequences for the young man, will be most unfortunate," the voice continued.

"Don't forget to ask about the ransom," came the whisper from a second man.

"Shh, I know, I know. Let me handle this," the first voice hissed.

Commander Ford and Bridger exchanged questioning glances, thinking that whoever these people were, they didn't sound like an organised group at all. Quite the opposite, they sounded like amateurs or as if they didn't know what they were doing.

"In addition to the microchip, the sum of one million dollars ransom must be paid also. A drop off point for both the chip and the money will be given to you, once you have confirmed that you have the merchandise and are ready to make the trade."

"Did I forget anything," the first voice asked the other man on the tape. "Oh hell, the kid is beginning to wake up," he said. The lens on the camera changed position as Frank moved about.

The two men now moved into frame on the camera. Riley being able to be seen fully, and Frank partially due to the camera being slung around his neck and resting on his mid-section. With their concentration focus on Lucas, they had forgotten momentarily about being able to be seen or recognized.

"That's the man that was here on the boat," Dagwood now said, recognizing the man that had been following Lucas and that he had thrown back up the hatch from the launch.

"Yes, Dagwood, it is," Ford said, as he too recognized the face of one of the men. Now he had confirmation of where he had heard the voice before. He, Piccolo and Bridger had tried to interrogate the man after he admitted to attacking Lucas on the boat.

"Looks like he got himself a partner in crime," Bridger said as he looked at the other man, but failed to notice anything familiar about him. All they could see of Frank was his shoes and the lower half of his body as he shifted positions.

The crew were drawn back to Lucas on the floor when they heard him begin to moan a little as he regained consciousness.

With the two kidnappers now standing in front of the barely-conscious teenager, it was difficult to see if Lucas was alright. "Still looks kinda pale," the unknown man commented.

"Yeah, but that's only because he is out of the sun and in this cave," Riley replied.

Bridger and Ford both made a mental note that they had mentioned the word _'**cave'**._ Hopefully without realising it, they would reveal a lot more about their secret hideout and the place where Lucas was being forcibly held.

Frank now placed the back of his hand against Lucas's forehead like he had when he first brought him in and noticed no real change in the temperature. If anything, the skin was hotter to the touch. "He's still hot as a grill plate."

By now Lucas had opened his blue eyes and was attempting to sit up to take in what was going on around him. Another groan of pain came from his lips as the pain in his leg began to reignite and known.

"Still?" Kristin whispered, picking up on the word. "That means he has been _'hot'_ for some time, Nathan."

"I assume that would mean Lucas has a fever of some sort? What would cause that, seeing as that he doesn't appear to have any obvious injuries we can see?

Kristin paused before replying, trying to think of all the possible scenarios in her mind about Lucas and his recent medical history and what could have happened since his kidnapping.

"Could be from his leg," she admitted, knowing that was what Nathan was thinking about. "But we don't know what they did to him to subdue him either. Could be a combination of things, or something completely new. His body is run down at the moment and make him be easily susceptible. He hasn't been getting anywhere near enough sleep or food with working on that damn chip they want."

Their attention was quickly drawn back to what was happening on the screen as a startled cry of surprise came from one of the men. "What the hell, Frank get a hold on him, he's trying to make a break for it."

Somehow, even with a fever, Lucas was trying to stand on his feet and escape his kidnappers. His mind wasn't quite focused, but his brain was on high alert and he told himself that he needed to get out of here as quickly as possible.

As the two men had started talking about him and his temperature, he had given one a hard shove into the wall and tried to deliver a punch to the second. The punch went astray, but had glanced the side of the man's face enough to force him to take a step back and loose his balance and footing.

As Riley fell on his backside on the stone floor, Lucas pushed himself into a standing position, hissing at the pain in his foot, but telling his body to move and get away.

Frank had been the first of the men to scramble to his feet after the teenager. Lucas had hobbled to the doorway created by the stone walls and was attempting to make it across the larger cavern to the entrance.

"He is trying to make a break for it Riley, quick, get some more of those pills we used to knock him out," Frank said, making a diving leap for the boy. He managed to tap the back of Lucas's shoe and caused the teenager to crash heavily to the floor.

"Now I got you, kid," Frank said as he got to his own feet again and tried to get a grip on the boy's arms before he could get up again. Whether it was the fever driving him or otherwise, it was supplying him with enough adrenaline and energy to fight against his assailant. He shoved back at the man again and struggled in the man's grip before he got a good enough hold.

"Drag him back over here, Frank. I have got something better in mind. Much stronger too," Riley said as he dug around in one of the boxes. He gave a cry of triumph as he produced a syringe and a vial of sepia coloured liquid.

"No, let me go!" Lucas said, his voice being heard for the first time on the tape. It was hoarse sounding and scratchy. With the camera now much closer, the crew were able to see just how glazed his eyes appeared due to the fever.

He tried to kick his attacked in the shin, causing the man to cry out, but for all of his efforts, the man's grip did not loosen sufficiently enough for Lucas to get entirely away. The man now adjusted his hold more as he wrapped an arm around the boy's slim waist and another over his shoulder, almost in a choke hold.

"HELP! SOMEBODY HELP ME!" Lucas shouted, still trying to wrench free from the man's strangle hold. His voice echoed a little within the cave, but was not strong enough for anyone any distance away to have heard it and come to his rescue. Nobody would be aware of what was happening to him.

"SHUT UP KID!" Frank said as he clamped a rough hand over the teenager's mouth. He didn't think anybody would be able to hear the kid from this secluded island, but it never hurt to be cautious. Lucas tried to scream a few more times through the hand, but found his energy levels quickly waning. He began to sag against the man's chest as his legs began to betray him. He was in danger of collapsing and fainting, and his skin continued to burn mercilessly with fever.

The whole scene was very difficult for the crew to watch. Obviously the kidnappers had forgotten about the video camera capturing every terrifying moment as Lucas battled to free himself or alert someone to his plight.

"Will you hurry up, Riley," Frank said as he began to feel the kid weaken in his grasp. He didn't think the kid will last too much longer, but he didn't want to take any risk of him trying to make a run for it again.

"Here we go, as Riley withdrew a small amount of the liquid from the medicine vial. He set the vial back on the top of the crate and squirted a small amount out of the syringe to get rid of any air bubbles.

"I am no doctor kid, but this should keep you quiet for a while longer than those pills," Riley said as he began to approach the vulnerable teenager.

"This that snake juice you were talking about?" Frank asked as he watched Riley grab one of Lucas's arms and roll up the sleeve on his shirt. "Ain't going to make him worse is it?" he asked, noting how hot the boy's skin was to the touch.

"Don't worry none. I don't think it will, but I don't think those people ought to be worrying about getting him back anyway. Kid is as good as dead with or without the money and the chip," Riley answered.

Lucas tried to shrink away from the needle as much as possible, but his escape route was cut off by Frank still holding onto him firmly. His eyes grew larger and afraid as he saw the needle come closer and then felt the prick to his skin.

It was fast acting, Riley a little surprised to see the kid's eyes already starting to droop almost before he had time to withdraw the needle. There was a small trickle of blood from the injection site, but nothing too bad.

"H-hel...h-hel...," were the only words Lucas managed to mumble before he coherent thoughts faded into grey. His eyes closed and his body went completely limp in Frank grip, causing the man to have to hold him up to prevent him from falling to the cave floor.

"Told you it was fast acting," Riley said to Frank. "Take him back to that room, we shouldn't have to worry about him for the rest of today anyway. Its pretty strong stuff. I have seen it bring down grown men, twice the size of this kid."

"Damn, the tape is still running, Riley," Frank cursed as he glanced down and noticed the camera again. "Its caught everything on there."

"Don't worry about it. Makes it look bad on there for those people at SeaQuest that's all. When they see it, they will know we mean business about the chip and the money," Riley said as he went to discard the syringe and put the vial away until later.

"The boss should be here tomorrow afternoon to make the final arrangements and organise the drop off point," came the last image on the tape before the picture turned into fuzz and the message was finished.

* * *

For a few minutes, the crew were too stunned by what they had seen to make any comment. Of course, they all felt anger towards the men for their abuse and mistreatment of Lucas. Watching as they had injected him with some drug or sedative, while the two men physically held him down.

Kristin had a few tears in the corners of her eyes at seeing Lucas have to suffer such harsh punishment. Inside, she was angry like the others, to think that people treated others like this, just for profit and gain. The microchip had been Lucas's dream and his obsession over these last few weeks, but right now she hated that it existed at all.

"Commander Ford, I want a full rescue party ready to go at a moments notice. Pack the essentials because we don't know who else we are up against, but we need to be prepared for anything," Bridger now said, breaking the silence in the room.

"Kristin, make sure that you have all your medical staff ready for when we bring Lucas back to the boat and have ready anything that you might need," Bridger instructed. Kristin nodded her head in agreement that everything would be as required.

"Where are we going to look for him, Captain?" Ortiz asked, knowing that Lucas's welfare was foremost on Bridger's mind at the moment.

"To be honest, Miguel, I don't know," Bridger answered with a touch of defeat in his voice. It was fine to have a rescue crew and everything on standby and have the MedBay ready for any emergency that might require their skills. But use was it all when they didn't have the slightest idea where Lucas was being held.

"On the tape, those two men mentioned something above caves, Captain," Tim O'Neill reminded them, trying to grasp at the few straws that had presented themselves as clues to Lucas's current whereabouts. "What caves could they be holding him in? The one on the tape looked particularly large."

Everyone had been thinking out loud to themselves or offering what small help they could when they were all interrupted by Tony jumping excitedly to his feet.

"I know where those caves are," he cried out. "And that horn we heard in the background, I have heard that before too. It all fits. I know where we can start searching anyway."

"Then what are we waiting for," Bridger said, not wanting to delay any further and wait until Tony had spilled the entire explanation of how he came to know. Even if it proved to be the wrong caves, at least it gave them all some small spark of hope and something positive to keep focused on.

"Commander Ford, we need a couple of rubber boats and oars for this rescue," Tony informed his superior officer. Ford raised an eyebrow at the man's outburst, but said nothing to the contrary, knowing that he was only excited about trying to find Lucas.

"Come on, I will explain what else we need when we get to the launch bay," Tony said as he began to push Ford towards the doorway.

"Don't worry, Lucas, I will give them two something to think about for you when I catch up to them," he said, gesturing with a punch into his other hand.

"We are coming, Lucas. Hold on... we are coming to get you," Bridger said out loud as he watched the other crew members file out of the Ward Room and prepare to leave.

* * *

Back at the caves, Frank and Riley had both found themselves a place to get some rest. They had folded out two portable cots and blankets and prepared to sleep for a few hours until Sykes arrived.

In the rear of the cave, in the smaller room, Lucas was deeply unconscious and oblivious at any attempts his family and friends might be trying to make to find him. Although the fever within him continued to burn, his body was also beginning to react to the chill of the stone floor.

to be continued ...


	8. FOUND AND RESCUED

**THE SECRET DEVICE**

**By Jules**

**CHAPTER 8 - FOUND AND RESCUED  
**

**_AshleyAHinton_****_ – This story has more twists in it then a bent pipe, but you haven't seen the best parts in my head yet. They were the original scenes that made me write the beginning of this story. Mr Sykes has yet to reappear into the saga. Thanks for reading._**

**_Teacher Tam – Glad to see you still reading my stories._****_ Eager for more? Hope this satisfies your hunger until next chapter._**

**_Kaz7 – What I have planned? No, I don't think there is a specific plan in this brain of mine. It has some crazy ideas at times and I just put them on the screen, but thanks for the vote of confidence._**

**_KatKnits00 – 3 Thank Yous !! – Welcome, welcome and very welcome. Thanks for supporting my stories so much. Love you for loving to read them. Plenty more to come yet._**

**_Fiona – Welcome to the updating as well. Glad to see so many people telling me that this humble amateur's stories are worth looking at. Next chapter up now, hope you enjoy it as much._**

**_Sara – Please don't beat me with your stick, even though I deserve a good 10 lashes for my poor updating performance. Poor Lucas. You ain't seen anything yet, the fun is just beginning. Just when you think its safe to go back into the water, Julie comes along. LOL_**

**_Dolphinology_****_ – No, thanks for the comments, but I seriously don't think I could write a movie. I write too many words and describe every rock and tree along the way. Yes, it's a pity that the writers are no longer open to suggestions at least – like write the entire 3rd Season again and the last few episodes of Season 2. _**

**_Aquarius – Thanks for the vote of confidence of my writing skill. Yes I do get that all the time, but I deserve it because real life gets in the way of my fantasy land writing too much. Continuing for a little while yet, almost getting towards the end._**

**_Denise – Suspense !! Definitely more of that, with some scenes yet that will blow your socks clean off – I hope LOL What Happens Next is anyone's guess, but I don't think anyone will be guessing the ending just yet._**

**Thanks for everyone's comments and wonderful reviews. Keep them coming and I hope you enjoy the next few scenes. They are inspired directly from a book I read more than 15 years ago from the Hardy Boys and I can still remember the scene it sounded so good to me. I just added the crew, Lucas and my own set of villains to go with it and added some extra stuff.**

**The information about Tony's background in this particular story, is my imagination only. I cannot remember too much of the details of Tony's stint in prison on the show, so I made up my own. This will also coincide with a few other stories that have any information about Tony's background and prison term (hint hint – Spirit)**

**"**Are you sure that the three of you are enough for this mission?" Kristin asked with a concerned voice. She knew that both Nathan and Jonathan Ford were skilled mariners and had were able to cope with dangerous situations. Tony of course had been toughened on the streets and from his time in prison, but still, she thought that more would be better than few to rescue Lucas.

**"**I know you are worried about Lucas, Kristin," Bridger replied, squeezing her hand a little for reassurance.

"This is a delicate situation as it is. We have to be able to move swiftly and without being seen. The success of finding Lucas and bringing him back safely relies on our ability to get around unnoticed and the only way to do that is to keep the number down."

The rest of the crew would stay behind and be in radio contact with Bridger and the rescue team in case they were needed. They would be ready to come to the assistance of their Captain or Lucas should things get out of control and the situation become even more dangerous.

Tim would monitor any communications on the frequencies surrounding the immediate search area and Miguel would monitor any movement of craft within the same area that might seem out of place or be a possible suspect for the kidnappers.

**"**Is everything packed, Commander?" Bridger asked, turning to his second in charge and enquiring as to the readiness of the rescue team. They couldn't afford to loose any more time and finding Lucas was going to rely on vigilance and stealth movement in the water.

"Yes, Captain, everything that I thought we might be able to use, but also keeping in check the weight. We can leave some minor items in the boats, but other than that, we will have to carry everything we need. When we do find Lucas, there has to be enough room left in the rubber raft for him as well," he mentioned, trying to keep the whole conversation positive.

"I packed some sandwiches and some milk in these thermoses for the trip," Kristin said, handing the small backpack to Nathan that contained the food. She gave him a wan smile, knowing that it was her caring side showing through again, but with her not being able to help physically with the rescue, it was her way of helping as best she could, given the circumstances.

"By the way, Captain, where are we headed? Do you have any idea of where we are going?"

"No I don't Commander, but lets ask the man of the hour who claims to know," Bridger commented as he strode towards Tony Piccolo who was across the other side of the room.

Although he had no objections to believe in the ex-con's well founded hunches. With a mission of this importance, and with Lucas's life at stake, he needed some basis for Tony's knowledge of where these caves were that Lucas was being held hostage in.

"Tony, could I have a word before we leave, please," Bridger said as the smaller man looked up at the three of them approaching him.

"I am sorry to ask, but the Commander and I were both wondering how you know where these caves are. All of us were curious," he added, indicating Kristen's earlier concerns about the number of rescuers involved.

At first, it looked as though Tony would object to the question altogether. As if it were a part of his past and background that he wished to leave behind and not bring up. But after letting out an audible sigh, he knew that denying that part of his life was pointless. Besides, he should have known that they would ask sooner or later.

Tony sat down on the rim of the moon pool and faced the three curious onlookers, ready to explain.

"You heard in the background of that tape, a horn or whistle?" be began, making sure that they had all heard the key piece of information that had led him to knowing where Lucas might be being held prisoner.

Bridger, Ford and Kristin all nodded their acknowledgement of hearing such a sound on the tape.

"Well, you all know that I did time and where I served my sentence. But before there was every any trial or sentence handed down from the presiding Judge, I was taken to a place that was a temporary prison."

"The place wasn't anything to be proud of, or any to remember specifically. I spent about 6 months there in detention until they finally decided what my fate would be and moved me to the more secure prison after my trial."

"On the day I arrived there, there were probably another 30 guys with me. All like me, toughened on the streets and backgrounds that didn't hold any meaning to anyone but ourselves. No one cared what happened to us in that stink-hole. They couldn't have cared less if we lived or not. If you made it out of there alive, then you were considered one of the luckier ones."

"I knew a prisoner about 10 cells down from me, killed himself in that place about 6 weeks after we got there. Couldn't stand the isolation anymore. Drove himself mad at night and screamed so loud sometimes that the walls just echoed."

All three listening, couldn't help but feel a little compassion and sadness for Tony. It was only a few privileged few that knew anything about his prison life. Lucas had been told more than others, but that information has not been shared or retold to even his family. Lucas respected Tony's privacy and his background because he too knew what it was like to hide your past from those closest to you for a long time.

"There wasn't anything to do in there except recall what you had done wrong in your life and how unfair the system was to inmates like us. Those with a number rather than a name. A number that identified you and took away your individuality and striped you of your human dignity and any sense of pride you might have once have clung to," Tony said, with the bitterness beginning to creep into his voice.

"The only time we saw the outside world was for 10 minutes a day in the exercise yard. A piece of concrete that had barbed wire strung across overhead to prevent escapes. The sun shone through sometimes, but other times the whole area was in shade."

"The long and the short of this is, that when we were outside in the yard, it was the same time everyday. And in the background we heard this boat horn. A whistle that was deep and echoing. We could get the faintest smell of salt on the breeze that wafted over, but it also contained the rotten smell of industrial waste and other by-products that were dumped illegally into the waterways."

"After a while it got so that we could time the hour of the day from that whistle. I will never forget it as long as I live. Even on rainy days when we were not out in the yard, we imagined that we could hear it on the water, reminding us of our dreary and sad lives on the inside."

"And you think these caves are nearby where you heard this whistle?" Bridger said, trying to recap all of what Tony had said, without taking away the empathy that he felt for such harsh and isolated treatment.

"There are a number of islands half way across the water. They are off the mainland, and from the sound of that whistle, I could wager that Lucas is being held in one of those caves somewhere. Makes sense. Nobody would think to look for him there, and he couldn't escape from there without the aid of a boat or some other form of inflatable craft."

"Come on them, what are we waiting for," Commander Ford said, interjecting a little enthusiasm into the rescue plan after hearing such a horrendous tale from Tony. He made a mental note to cut the man some slack after hearing it.

Up until now, Ford probably had not afforded the ex-con with as much respect or worth that he should have. He wasn't willing to openly admit that he was wrong about Piccolo's personality when they had first met, but Tony had definitely proven himself on more than one occasion of his selflessness when it came to Lucas. Everyone understood the unlikely friendship that had formed between the bunk-mates.

With Tony guiding the way, the three men, Bridger, Ford and Piccolo set off from the SeaQuest in the small inflatable rubber boat with their equipment. Tony had told them that the area they would begin searching in would take about half an hour in the small craft. Once they got closer, the plan was to cut the small outboard engine and drift onshore to one of the smaller islands so as to go unnoticed.

They had no idea of how many they would have to search for any clues of Lucas. Tony said there were about 3-4 separate islands, many of them littered with small caverns that were used by smugglers to elude the custom authorities.

* * *

As Bridger and the team travelled upon the water, back at the cave where Lucas was being held, Frank and Riley were preparing to make a boat trip of their own back to the mainland.

"You sure he ain't going to wake up while we are gone?" Frank asked Riley for the third time in the last half an hour. The question was beginning to grate on Riley's nerves.

"Yes I am sure, now shut the hell up and help me with this," Riley barked back at the other man. "I already told you, he won't wake up for hours. Now lets get a move on and get going. We have to take this small boat back to the mainland and bring the larger one so that we can load all of this gear and the kid in one trip before the Boss arrives."

"When we reach dry land, I want to get something to eat too," Frank complained, wanting to taste normal food after sifting through the crates inside the cave and finding only gourmet tins and bottles.

"Just get a move on," Riley said as he prepared to leave the cave and climb back into the same small boat that they had used to bring Lucas to the island in. "We shouldn't be any more than an hour. The kid won't even know we are gone."

It would have been about 15 minutes after Riley and Frank departed the island and were in the process of dragging their boat ashore when the sound of a small motor could be heard near the cave.

* * *

"Which one do we search first?" Commander Ford asked Tony as it became clear that this might take more time than they first assumed. They would have to drag the boat up onto the sand a little to prevent it drifting away on the tide and conceal it behind some rocks while they searched each of the small islets.

As fate would happen, they chose to search one of the other islands first and slowly motored past the one were Lucas lay unconscious inside.

Before Frank and Riley had left, they had taken the extra precautions at Frank's insistence and much to Riley's annoyance of tying up the teenager and gagging him until their return.

Frank still didn't have much faith that the drug Riley had administered to the kid would last until their return. He wanted to make sure that Lucas wasn't able to make a half-hearted escape attempt like he had done earlier.

Bridger and the crew came to the first island and spent twenty minutes combing the rocky surface, looking for any signs of a large enough cave to match the one they had seen on the video tape.

After being satisfied that there were no such caverns on this particular islet, Bridger told them to make a start towards the boat once more and they would head towards one of the other two islands.

"Which one next?" Tony asked as they headed towards the other two remaining islands.

The choice was eventually determined by the size of the islands, the one they went to being a little larger in size than the other one. It was the larger of the three, but gave no sign that any of the rock formations had caves within that might hold a prisoner.

Because this was a little larger than the other two, it was not possible to see the opposing side of the island. It was going to take a little longer to search this one entirely for any clues. They would need to keep vigilant during that time.

After pulling the boat ashore, they were disappointed to see that the presence of the boat could not be masked on this shoreline. There was only a small sandy beach and a steep gravel incline up to the rocks. They would have to leave the boat exposed, but hopefully their presence would go undetected like the previous island.

"I think we had better stick together for this island," Bridger commented as the trio began to climb up the steep hill towards the rock. He didn't really have a plausible reason for his suggestion, but was glad that neither Ford or Piccolo saw the need to question why.

They had begun searching a few of the other rock formations around Lucas's cave when Ford came across the larger entrance. Whilst he didn't want to get everyone's hope up just yet, the size of this particular cavern was the most promising they had seen to date.

Just as he called Bridger and Piccolo over to the opening, Tony heard the distinctive whistle from the passing boat that he had not heard in many months. He paused as it sounded, trying to shake off the feelings from the past that it dragged to the surface.

Bridger and Ford both looked at Tony, giving him an appreciative look that his hunches had been worthwhile.

The three of them stepped a little further into the cave, the other two noting as Ford had, the size of the inside. They couldn't identify it immediately as the place they had seen on the video tape, but it was certainly large.

The were no real distinguishable items within the cavern from their current position that would confirm their belief that this was the right cave. There was no sign of anyone. They walked a little further until the room turned slightly, and almost gasped out loud at what confronted them.

Before them further into the cave, they could see crate boxes and two chairs resting against them. Ford looked a few feet in front of him and noticed a scrap of paper lying on the ground. He stepped forward and retrieved it, turning it over for any markings that might be a clue. He handed it to Bridger, pointing out the writing on it.

Bridger frowned at first, but recognized the scrap as newspaper print. It had the beginning of a date in the corner, 29th March…….. But the part containing the year was torn off and the information incomplete.

The 29th March was only 2 days ago from now, but there was no way of knowing if this had come from a recent paper. There was certainly enough evidence before them all now that they were closer to finding Lucas.

Tony was about to say something, when he stopped short and listened more intently. "Captain, did you hear something?" he said, his stomach turning a little into a knot that someone might be inside the cave. Someone like Lucas.

Ford and Bridger paused also and listened closely too. "Its coming from over there," Bridger announced out loud and immediately raced towards the area of the cave where he had heard what sounded like a muffled moan.

"LUCAS!" Bridger exclaimed out loud, after entering another smaller room within the larger cavern. The air inside this smaller room was quite cold and Bridger immediately noticed the drop in temperature.

Tony and Ford raced to where Bridger and gone, gasping as they now laid their eyes on the pale form of Lucas Wolenczak, laying on the cold stone floor.

Bridger wasted no time in kneeling beside the unconscious youth and trying to get a response. He called out the boy's name, but there was no reply. He gently removed the gag that was secured behind the teenager's head.

"Do you have a knife to cut these ropes with?" Bridger asked Ford without looking up. The dark-skinned Commander immediately complying to his request and placing a small, but serrated pocket knife in his hands.

Bridger sawed through the rope and gave an audible sigh of relief when it gave way and released Lucas's hands and feet. The boy gave a small moan of pain as he felt his bonds give way and the circulation become better.

"Let's bring him out of here into the larger cavern for now," Bridger suggested, noting the heat from the boy's skin. Despite this heat, as the circulation improved, the teenager began to shiver slightly at the temperature of the room.

Commander Ford started rummaging through the various boxes and crates he could find in the larger cavern to locate a blanket or any piece of warm material that could be used. There were two blankets securely tucked away in the rubber boat on the shore, but they did not want to waste precious time in retrieving that if there was another alternative. The extra blankets would come in handy for the return journey back to the SeaQuest.

At about the same time that Bridger and Tony carried a semi-conscious Lucas out into the larger cavern, Frank and Riley were partially across the water from the mainland in the larger boat they went to arrange. From their position, they were unaware that the teenager had been found by others and was currently being released from his bonds.

Lucas gave a small, but harsh cough as he began to gain some alertness. He was still having major disorientation and laid on the ground as he tried to get the room to stop spinning. He had a major headache and even the act of lifting his hands towards his forehead seemed to increase the throbbing.

Bridger kept a close eye on him, giving the teenager a little time to get his bearings. He now moved to take a closer look at the reflexible splint that still adorned Lucas's lower leg. Although Kristen would be able to give a more professional opinion, he wanted to make sure that it was still in place for the most part.

"Captain, we cannot afford to stay here too long," Ford warned, glancing continuously towards the front entrance to the cave.

"We might have to carry him if he cannot make it on his own," Tony voiced.

"How do you feel Lucas? Do you think you can stand on your own?" Bridger asked, watching intently for any sign from the boy that he was putting on a brave front instead of being honest about his physical condition.

"Still a bit woozy, but I will try," came the coarse whisper from the teenager's lips.

Bridger and Tony helped him stand on his two feet, stilling keeping a hold on his shoulder as they waited for the dizziness to subside. After a few minutes, Lucas gave a curt nod to indicate that he was willing to try to take a few tentative steps.

Bridger and Tony reluctantly removed their support. Lucas took two steps forward and gave a wan smile that he had at least managed that, but that was a far as he was able to go. Without warning, the dizziness assailed him once more and he swayed where he stood.

Ford was quick enough to step forward and prevent him from collapsing back to the cave floor. Lucas's colour was still considerably pale and from the temperature of his skin, it was clear that his fever was still present. The teenager did not offer any words but began to sag against the Commander as his energy levels dropped.

"They drugged him heavily, and he is still feeling the effects," Bridger commented, a slight edge to his voice that these men had treated the boy in such a manner.

"Let's move him back to the boat. Commander, you lead the way, Tony and I will support Lucas. It will be slow going down that steep hill we had to climb up, but between us we should be able to do it," Bridger said.

Bridger and Tony both supported Lucas as they exited the cave and started making their way back towards the boat. They would have to leave the evidence of the smuggling behind and allow the law and authorities to catch up with the kidnappers at a later time. For the moment, getting Lucas to safety and medical treatment was the most important thing.

The walking with Lucas was slow, but steady. The teenager was barely aware of where they were going as his thoughts once again drifted in and out due to the drug in his system. He posture was poor and he leaned heavily against Bridger on a few occasions as his body threatened to betray him further.

By the time they had approach the ridge of the steep incline, Commander Ford was already at the bottom of the hill, readying the boat for them all. He retrieved the blankets that would be used to wrap around Lucas and a torch, lighting the way for Bridger and Piccolo.

The hill was steep and made of gravel. Tony and Bridger feared a dangerous slide if they put their feet wrong or Lucas collapsed on them before they caught him in time. The teenager's feet were dragging down the stony face, barely lifting high enough above the ground. The toe of his shoe would be worn and scuffed by the time they reached the bottom.

At one stage, Tony suggested carrying Lucas might be faster, but Bridger told him that he didn't want to risk re-injurying his leg by having the cast move around whilst he was being hoisted or carried.

* * *

The trio were about a three-quarters of the way down when they heard yelling from the cave entrance behind them. Frank and Riley had returned to the island through the back entrance to the cave, to find Lucas's cut bonds on the floor and their hostage gone.

"Frank! He's getting away. And that's them damn people from that SeaQuest boat," Riley shouted, scarcely able to believe what he could see happening. "Well, what are you standing there for, get after him."

"Me! You get after him. You're the one who let him get away. You're the one who said he wouldn't even know we were gone," Frank shot back, getting tired of Riley's placing the blame on everybody but himself.

Both of them knew that Sykes was not going to be impressed at all. The boss wasn't a happy man when things didn't go according to his plans.

The two men started pegging large rocks towards Bridger and Tony, trying to impede their progress down the rocky slope. If they stumbled along the way, especially with the kid, then they might have a chance of stopping them from escaping off the island.

Tony saw one or two of the rocks sail wide and over their heads. He was grateful for the misjudgement in aim, but prayed that the two men didn't get lucky too soon. His relief was short lived though as Bridger gave a sharp cry of discomfort as one of the smaller but smoother rocks glanced off his shoulder blade.

Lucas was alert enough to hear the Captain call out in pain, but was in no condition to help any further. Even in his addled state of mind, he realised that he was the reason they could not travel faster to avoid the barrage of rocks being hurtled at them from above by Frank and Riley.

"L-leave m-me," he said in a weak voice to Bridger and Tony. He didn't really want to be left in the hands on these men and knew what the consequences of being recaught would be. But at the same time, he wasn't about to have his friends and family become targets and get hurt or seriously injured because of him and his weakened condition either.

"Like hell," Tony said immediately, knowing that it was probably the drug cloud over the teenager doing most of the talking rather than rationality.

"You will be quicker without me. You can come back for me later," Lucas said, his thoughts swirling about in his head, but mostly wanting to keep his friends safe. As if to add to his statement, a rock landed only a short distance from Bridger, making them have to adjust their direction slightly to avoid the debris that resulted.

"We are not leaving you behind," Tony growled. They were almost to the boat and hopefully with a little luck, on their way to freedom.

"Come on, into the boat," Commander Ford ushered the trio neared him and the boat at the shoreline. Just when they thought they were out of immediate danger, a large rock hit the back of Tony's leg, causing him to loose his footing and almost let go his support on Lucas.

"Owwwww," Tony exclaimed, trying to stand again, but the leg collapsed beneath him again, causing Bridger to have to support all of Lucas's weight on his own.

"Got my leg," he said through clenched teeth as the pain became more intense than he would have liked to admit.

"You help Tony into the boat, Jonathan, I will help Lucas," Bridger instructed. He turned around in time to glance up at the ridge and note that the two men were walking quickly back to the entrance to the cave.

"I don't think we have seen the last of them somehow," he muttered under his breath. He was quickly brought back to the situation at hand when Tony exclaimed in pain once more as he was helped into the boat. They were not going to be able to take a look at the injury now. They had no way of knowing how much damage had been caused by the rock, but the seaman was having trouble standing on it and supporting any kind of weight.

"How is he?" Commander Ford asked the Captain as he watched Bridger lay Lucas down along one of the seats. Lucas's eyes were closed and his colour was still much to pale for their liking.

"Not good, but lets get them both out of here and away from this island," Bridger said, as he accepted a blanket from the Commander and started wrapping it around the youth. The fever was still present, but with the cool breeze from the salt air, he was beginning to shiver again.

Bridger made sure that he was as comfortable as possible and up against the side wall of the boat to prevent being tossed about too much by the swell or waves.

They had only travelled about 100 metres away from the island with the small motored craft, when a larger more powerful engine could be heard approaching them from behind. As Ford and Bridger turned, they were dismayed to see a larger boat quickly catching up with them and even from this distance they were able to see the two distinct figures of Frank and Riley at the helm. The two men were determined to prevent Lucas's escape.

"Step on it, Commander," Bridger said, putting his hand protectively over Lucas's chest, but he knew the order was futile as the small motor would not be able to out run the larger boat. The only hope they had on their side was the small distance they had already gained and the chance that they could use the boat and the small waves created by the waves to out manoeuvre the two kidnappers.

Tony was already trying to signal for help from the SeaQuest on the two way radio, but so far, with the rough surface of the water and the speed they were using to get away, he had not been able to get a clear contact transmission back to the rest of the crew waiting to assist them. He had to keep trying.

Without warning, the larger boat was soon right on top of them. Frank was steering the boat, while Riley was closer to the side and reaching over the side towards the smaller boat. At first, Bridger and Ford thought that he must be trying to reach the motor of the smaller boat to try and disable the engine.

A sharp turn from the larger boat sent it careening into the lighter, rubber craft, sending Bridger, Piccolo and Ford tumbling over each other in the boat. Lucas had awoken a little with the commotion, but for the most part remained on the seat. None of them realised what was happening until it was almost too late.

As the other craft got close enough and the other crew members were trying to pick themselves up from a second and third ramming, Riley had leaned over even further and before Lucas or the others could stop him, had gotten a grasp on the sneaker of Lucas's good leg.

"Ahhhh," Lucas cried out as he felt his body being pulled awkwardly to the side by Riley. The man was attempting to drag him back into the other boat without any real concern for his current injuries or any fresh ones that he might sustain from such rough treatment. "Let go," Lucas protested, as he attempted to reach down to pull the offending hand away.

Bridger and Tony saw the brazen attempts and were immediately getting to their feet to stop the man from getting any more of a hold on Lucas.

The two boats were now travelling side by side. Frank had put the larger boat on auto-pilot and was now able to come back and help Riley a little more. He grabbed one of the oars from their boat and was attempting to strike at the smaller craft's outboard motor to damage it and stop the boat's progress altogether. Once they had snatched the kid back again, they could make a fast get away and leave the others drifting on the water.

Ford did his best to thwart Frank's attempts to sabotage their boat with the oar, while the Captain and Tony saw to stopping Riley from taking Lucas.

Lucas had sat up a little now, even though his body was strongly protesting about it. The dizziness was bad, and the headache worse, but his only thoughts were of making his attacker let go of his foot.

"Get away from him," Tony shouted to the man, leaping across the short distance and ready to fight for his younger, more vulnerable friend.

It was right about then that Riley struck out with a closed, clenched fist, meant for Tony. None of them expected what happened next which was for the punch to miss Tony entirely, and catch a totally unsuspecting Lucas on the jaw as he was lifting his shoulders upwards. The blow stunned him, and he instantly fell back against the long seat of the boat, losing his tenuous grip on consciousness.

Whilst Bridger had cried out in outrage at seeing the man punch Lucas without warning, Tony on the other hand, made the point of a more direct approach.

"Why you good for nothing……….," was only the first part of the sentence that he got out before he swung one of his own fists at Riley.

The punch from Tony was good and hard, causing Riley to loose his own balance and fall backwards into their boat on the deck. "That's for Lucas," he shouted with a proud smirk on his face.

It was about now that Commander Ford put the little motor into full throttle in a final attempt to gain some distance between them. As they looked back, it became clear that the two kidnappers had lost interest in catching them now, as they both stood on the deck of their boat, watching the SeaQuest crew scoot across the water. Riley was rubbing absent-mindedly at his chin with a hand, where Tony's punch had connected.

When Bridger finally declared it safe enough to slow down, Tony and he were still at Lucas's side, trying to see how much damage had been inflicted by the wayward blow. A discolouring bruise was already beginning to form and stood out in contrast due to the already pale skin.

"Going to have a good bruise, but I don't think there is any permanent damage," Bridger commented, knowing that he was no medical doctor and that Kristen would be horrified about what had caused the small swelling and bruise in the first place.

Lucas was just beginning to regain consciousness again and reached out blindly with his hand, looking for the source of the pain, not wanting to open his eyes into the light as he knew this would only make it worse.

"Should we give him anything for the pain?" Tony asked, knowing that Lucas's leg must have been aching badly by now without the medication that Kristen had prescribed since his forced kidnapping. With the added discomfort of the punch, he knew that the kid needed all the help and relief he could get.

"No, I don't think so, not just now. We only have a short distance back to the SeaQuest now, and I don't want to tamper with his system until Kristen has taken a good look at him and the drugs that they have already injected into him. He is only partially awake at the moment, and not really aware of everything that is going on. Tomorrow might be a different story when he wakes up," Bridger answered.

"How about the milk in this thermos that Kristen gave us then? I don't know when he ate or drank last, or even if they gave him anything at all since the party," Tony asked, wanting to offer a little help.

His own hand stung from the punch he had delivered and the knuckles were slightly red. His own leg was throbbing badly and would be discoloured nicely to match the bruise on Lucas's face no doubt.

"Okay, but only a little, until Kristin checks him over properly," Bridger agreed. "I don't think he will want much anyway," he added, looking down at the teenager, who still seemed asleep for the most part.

Tony gave the thermos to Bridger, afraid that he might not be able to pour it slowly enough. Bridger woke Lucas as best he could to tell the teenager what they were doing, but with merely a few grunts of pain to indicate that he was alert enough, he signalled for Tony to lift the boy's head a little to take the liquid sustenance.

While this was happening, Ford had taken over the steering of the boat again and had also taken on the job of attempting to contact the SeaQuest whilst the Captain and Piccolo attended to the injured Lucas.

"Yes, we found him," Ford was able to say through a crackled transmission to the SeaQuest. A harsh sounding whoop of joy could be heard from the other end at the news that Lucas was safe.

"Doctor Westphalen will need to be on standby as soon as we come in," Ford now said, wanting for Kristin to be ready when they arrived to take care of the patient. She was surprised to learn that she might well have two patients instead of one when Ford explained about Tony having a possible leg injury that would need attention.

Piccolo had wanted to object to needing any medical treatment, but the radio transmission was ended before he could voice his protest. He knew that Kristen would be waiting, but also knew that he and Lucas would be in good hands.

"I am not going to let anything else happen to you after this, Lucas," Bridger whispered as he lay the boy's head in his lap for the last part of the journey and gently stroked the blond locks as Lucas slept.

* * *

In a high rise office building in the centre of the city, another meeting was being held between Sykes, Riley and Frank about the bungled kidnapping and subsequent rescue of their hostage.

Riley and Frank stood by nervously as a red faced Sykes faced the large pane windows and tried to understand from the explanations given, where his carefully laid out plan had gone wrong.

"Try to understand, boss, those SeaQuest fellows had us outnumbered. They had almost the whole crew up there on the island, looking for the kid. I don't even know how they found it in the first place," Riley said in his own defence.

"I find that story very difficult to believe Mr Riley," Sykes said in a low, but too calm voice as he turned to face the two men who had cost him the chance of a major ransom. "Almost the entire crew you say," he repeated, using the man's own words to trap him. He already suspected that Riley and Frank had exaggerated their stories to a great extent.

The problem remained that the kid had been recovered, regardless of how it had been achieved. It was going to be much more difficult now to get him on his own for another, more successful attempt. But this time, he knew he would have to do things himself if he wanted it to work. Riley had already made two kidnap attempts and failed both times. He wouldn't be getting a third chance to mess things up.

Frank seemed to be able to pick up what Sykes was thinking and voice his opinion, "We won't be able to get to the kid now, boss. They will have him guarded every minute now they know somebody is after him for the microchip."

"You are correct, Frank, they will no doubt, be guarding him more closely. But that doesn't mean that we cannot achieve our goals. Lucas Wolenczak will give me that micro-chip, or else he will pay dearly with his life," Sykes replied.

"This is what I want you two to do, and this time I will make sure there are no mistakes."

"I have one more card in my repertoire to play………………..."

to be continued …………………


	9. ASSESSING THE DAMAGE

**THE SECRET DEVICE**

**By JULES6**

**CHAPTER 9 - ASSESSING THE DAMAGE  
**

**_KatKnits00 – Curious about Mr Sykes huh ? Let's just say – the fun isn't quite over yet._**

**_SARA – The updates are even worse than before – but hopefully someone is still out there reading._**

**_Dolphinology – So sorry you have had to wait for the next chapter – unavoidable real life._**

**_Kas – Wonder whats going to happen ? – a mystery to myself most times until I put words on the paper – most of this is random and spontaneous with no real plan to most of it. Thanks for reading._**

**_D.E.Lewis – Thank you so much for the information about the book that was the inspiration for the last chapter. I read it a very long time ago, but that one scene was always so vivid in my head – had to use it somewhere in my writing._**

**_Ihni – This chapter is for you and all the readers out there – if there are any left still reading this story._**

Ten minutes after arriving back at the SeaQuest, Commander Ford and the rest of the rescue group were quickly taken aboard, to find a very anxious and waiting Doctor Kristin Westphalen.

Lucas was the first concern of course, not having awoken since the later part of the boat journey. Tony and Bridger had assumed this was mostly due to the residual effects of the drug concoction in his system and the rough treatment he had received in the hands of Riley and his side kick.

Jonathan Ford had helped Tony Piccolo to Med-Bay, not wanting to admit his injury, but becoming a little worried about the amount of stiffness that he was experiencing. He had begrudgingly agreed to see the doctor, but only after Lucas had been tended to first. This also gave him the opportunity of being able to check on the condition of his young friend from Kristin herself.

"It don't really hurt that bad, Commander," Tony said through clenched teeth, trying to hide his pain from Ford.

"Sure it isn't," Commander Ford replied, not buying anything the unorthodox seaman had to say.

"Coming from the same man when he first came on this vessel, told me that he wouldn't be here more than a week, because you had a confirmed appointment with the President."

"I did too, dirty rotten fink that he is, reneged on our deal," Tony tried to answer seriously, but grinned when he saw the Commander doing the same. Ford shook his head as they continued down the corridor towards Med-Bay. Somethings around here didn't change, and he hoped they never did.

Tony took position on a medical bed next to the one that Bridger had set Lucas down on. Westphalen and he both now hovered around it, Kristin very clinical in her approach at first as she set to tending to Lucas's various injuries.

Clearly written on her face though was a mixture of concern about the young man laying before her and a sense of relief that he had been rescued from his kidnappers.

Bridget ended up sitting in an aluminium chair beside Lucas's bed, forcing himself to get out of Kristen's way and allow her time before being able to make her diagnosis.

"I want to take a look at this foot first," Kristin said, explaining her methods as she worked. Lucas had not shown any signs of regaining consciousness yet, but that was to be expected given the concoction of drugs that had been forced upon him. Not to mention the rough treatment he had endured.

The outside of the special cast was filthy. A combination of that rough treatment and when he had laid on the cave floor. Kristin was concerned that the small bone break might have been turned into something substantially more serious.

Kristin carefully began undoing the cast. It was the only way to assess if any further injury had been sustained to the bones. "I might need your assistance here for a moment," she said in Bridger's direction. She didn't have to ask twice.

"Just put your hands here," she directed, "I want you to hold his leg firm and as still as you can until I can see if the bones have been disturbed. I will have to remove this cast and replace it with a new one."

Bridger did as he was told, placing one hand firmly above the cast and one as gently as he could near the bottom. Just as he put his second hand on the cast, a groan was heard from the teenager.

Lucas murmured in pain and turned his head as though an attempt to escape the source.

"He moved," Tony blurted out, speaking the blatant obvious, almost losing his own balance off the edge of the bed.

"You stay exactly where you are Mr Piccolo," Kristin issued in a stern voice. "Don't put any more pressure on that leg than is absolutely necessary." But she could see from the exertion on Tony's face that even that small sudden jerk had inflamed the damage to own leg.

Kristin bent over Lucas's face, his eyes still closed, and seemingly asleep. She used the palm of her hand to feel the gentle breaths he was exhaling. "Lucas, can you hear me honey?" She waited before repeating the question.

Kristin gently brushed the hair out of his eyes hoping to invoke a response from the unconscious teenager. "Lucas?" No response again so she went back to assessing the damage to his foot.

"His breathing is a little shallow, but nothing to be over worried about," Kristin informed the small group of onlookers, as she turned her attention to the cast.

"I can't risk giving any more pain medication at present due to the mixture he has already had his captors. Hold him once more please, Nathan, but be prepared as this may hurt him," Kristin warned.

"Commander Ford, please hand me that pair of cutters on that table there," Kristin requested. "The only way to take this off without causing too much pain is by cutting it off altogether."

"Hold him steady, Nathan," Kristin repeated to Bridger.

Kristin used the sharp metal blades to cut through the flexible material that made up the cast. It was a little stiff in places from where it had come into contact with moisture. She was almost down the length of the cast when Lucas began to stir again.

At first his awakening was no more than moans from the pain and turning his head from side to side as he tried to fight the dizziness that assailed him. But the semi-consciousness state caused him to be confused and disoriented.

Lucas began to feel more of the pain beginning to flare in his leg and Kristen's actions, although gentle as she could, made the teenager more alert. His system was running on adrenaline and had yet to feel to full impact of exhaustion.

"It's alright, Lucas, Kristin is trying to fix your leg. You are safe now, but you just need to keep still for a few more minutes," Bridger said, trying to reassure the teenager that the worst was now over.

Part of Lucas's brain registered what was being said to him, the other parts were winding down as a result of the deeper sense of exhaustion that was beginning to set in.

He was telling himself he should open his eyes and talk to the voice that he could hear, but the effort to raise his eyelids was more than he could muster at the moment.

"_Too tired…….." _

These were the only two words that Lucas managed to mumble before succumbing to the tiredness that wouldn't let go. He felt himself drifting away from conscious thoughts and couldn't remember what it was now that he wanted to do.

"You just rest, and let us take care of everything," Bridger whispered, running his hand through the untidy blond locks on Lucas's forehead. Feeling for the first time since this whole saga began, that the teenager was at last back with them and safe.

"He really sounds tired," Tony commented, hearing the drawl in his friend's voice and seeing the level of exhaustion etched on his young face.

"He should be just fine, Tony," Kristin replied, knowing how close the two friends were.

There wasn't too many times that Piccolo showed a more sensitive side to his personality. He always liked to put on a mask so to speak and not let anybody see the real Tony. Much like a certain blond teenager too. Too afraid to let anybody else in. The friendship between them made perfect sense.

"Commander Ford, could you please ask two crew members to get a bed ready for Lucas in Bridger's quarters. By then I should be finished examining his leg and be able to give a better assessment," Kristen suggested.

"Your going to let him stay out of Med-Bay tonight?" Tony queried, thinking it odd rather than a bad thing. Kristen was known for being strict with adhering to medical advice, but Lucas was about the only one he knew of that got special treatment. Except maybe the Captain himself.

"Ordinarily, I would not agree," Kristin responded, see Tony trying to turn her rules back against her. "But Lucas was forcibly taken away from those people who care and love him. He might be very anxious in the weeks to come. He might be flighty around people he doesn't know or unfamiliar surroundings."

"Yeah, you can say that again, that cave wasn't exactly the warmest or cheerful of places," Tony interrupted briefly.

"I think it would be better if he was near the people that he is most comfortable with, like the Captain, you and myself. He probably doesn't want to be bombarded all at once about what happened for him, and for a time, he may want to forget or deny it happened at all," Kristin continued.

"But it has to be better for him to talk about it doesn't it?" Tony offered in logic.

"Yes, but at a pace that he is comfortable with, Tony. Lucas is someone who hides his emotions and feelings at the best of times, even from us. We can predict how he may react to something like being kidnapped, but have to be prepared to exactly the opposite if it happens."

"I hear what you are saying, Doc. I will make sure that the rest of the boat gives him some space for a couple of days. They are probably going to want to know how he is."

"I suspect they will too, but I would appreciate your help in limiting the number of visitors for a few days, until Lucas begins to recover a little more. The first few days will see him resting as much as possible and probably longer than that, allowing his leg to heal more again," Bridger asked, seeing

Kristin nod her head in agreement of such a suggestion.

"Make sure the bed is padded a lot with extra blankets on the bottom," Kristin instructed Ford. "I want to put some pillows under his knee to support the leg as well. I will monitor his temperature for a few hours, but it doesn't greatly concern me at present."

"It shall be done," Ford said formerly. "I will check back on how you are doing later," he said to Tony before leaving to find two volunteers.

Tony and Bridger were forced to wait another ten minutes whilst Kristin removed the remainder of the flexible cast and gently assessed the damage.

An x-ray was the best course of action, and thankfully with Lucas asleep, he offered little resistence. He had murmured incoherently when she had handled his injured foot, but his slumber too deep for him to feel any great pain. No doubt the story would be different once the teenager was conscious and more alert.

"Fortunately for Lucas, the bones appear to be still aligned. No displacement that I can see immediately. That is what I feared the most when I saw the state of the outside of the cast," Kristin explained as she worked.

"There is a little swelling around the top of the foot though, and the redness of the surrouding skin suggests some inflammation."

"I am going to rewrap his foot and then place a fresh flexible cast on his lower leg. That will help support it as it did before, and hopefully without too much activity or jarring over the next few days, the bones should continue to mend without too much interference," Kristin stated.

"So glad you are going to be okay, Kiddo," Bridger said to Lucas as he watched him sleep. "We gave him some milk from a thermos on the boat," he remembered.

"That wouldn't have done him any harm. It might have proven a benefit in coating his stomach against the concoction of drugs he received. The milk should absorb some of the drugs, and allow any side effects to be decreased."

Twenty minutes later, mostly watched in silence by Bridger and Piccolo as Kristin worked on Lucas's leg and put a fresh cast in place.

"Hand me that blanket from underneath there, Nathan," Kristin said, pointing to a trolley nearby. "And two of those pillows."

Bridger watched as the two pillows were carefully placed underneath Lucas's knee, raising the foot to an acceptable level that allowed support and decreased any stress on the bones or muscles.

Kristin placed another two fresh pillows underneath Lucas's head, and then covered him with two warm blue blankets. He had been cold in the cave, causing a slight low grade fever, but she didn't want to risk him developing a chill.

The doctor had tried up until now to ignore the bruise that was beginning to darken on the teenager's face. The foot had been the most serious injury, but now that it was taken care of and treated, Kristin went to the extra lengths to check out any other bumps Lucas may have suffered at the hands of his kidnappers.

"How did he get this?" Kristin asked, already suspecting some sort of physical blow from the position on his face.

"Some of those guys went to hit me," Piccolo admitted. "Somehow he missed and hit Luke there. Knocked him clean over in the boat."

Kristin clenched her unseen hand onto a sheet, controlling the anger she felt that someone would strike Lucas. Keeping her doctor persona though, she turned her attention to its after effects rather than the cause.

"Seems to be mostly superficial. Only fresh though, so may be worse in the morning. I suspect it is tender to the touch," Kristin remarked, giving her opinion orally.

"Lets him some rest for now, I can access his pain level through the day if he wakes. Hopefully, with crossed fingers, he should sleep soundly though most of the afternoon," Kristin instructed.

* * *

"Now," she said firmly, turning attention to two new suspected patients. "Which one of you wants to go first!"

Tony and Bridger both looked at each other and then Kristin, hoping that both of them would be able to slip under her radar whilst she was more concerned about taking care of Lucas.

"Him first," Tony said, pointing to the Captain. Kristin took the opportunity that presented itself and grabbed at his out stretched hand.

"Now lay down on your stomach for me Mr Piccolo," Kristin said, hoping the sterner tone of voice would get him to comply.

Piccolo reluctantly did so, but could only glare back at Bridger who was smirking to himself from behind Kristin's back at the seaman.

"It doesn't really hurt that much now, Doc," Piccolo tried to say in his own defence. It was Luke here that needed the care, not me."

"Doesn't hurt, huh?" Kristin asked impartially as she gently began to touch the bruised skin on the back of his lower calf.

"Yipe!"

"I'll take that as a yes," Kristin said, never understanding why men tried to behind a tough outer mask. Most of them never admitted to injury unless it was forced upon them.

Tony was surprised himself just how much it hurt. He had momentarily forgotten about it while they watched over Lucas, but now the residual soreness was apparent.

Though clenched teeth, Tony let the doctor continue her examination, though he found to difficult to hold back from calling out when she had accidentally pressed on a particularly tight spot. The muscles felt as though they were knotted together, and there was a slight stiffness that he described to Kristin.

"Well, I think you will live, Tony," Kristin said with a sly smile, but with genuine regard for his wellbeing.

"It may be tender for a week or so, and like Lucas, I suggest you stay off that leg for a few days. I will give you some inflammatory medicine that will help ease most of the pain."

"Its alright, doc, I am tough enough to put up with the pain," Tony said, turning himself over and preparing to get off the examination table. "I come from a long line of……………" was all he managed to get out as he allowed his feet to touch the floor.

"Yipes" he cried out once more, holding onto the bed until the sharp burst of pain began to subside. He raised the foot a little to ease his body weight off that foot.

"You were saying?" Bridger said with a laugh.

"I was saying, I better take a bit of that medicine, Doc," Tony admitted sheepishly. "But what about you too?" he now added, making sure that he wasn't the only one that the doctor had to look over skeptically.

"Nathan?" Kristin turned and asked at Tony's words. She knew only too well that when it came to admitting pain, Bridger was worse than Tony or Lucas.

"It's nothing really," Bridger said as he began to back pedal a few steps, rotating his injured shoulder as he did so to check that there had been no miraculous recovery. Much to his dismay there had not been and his face turned into a grimace at the protesting muscles.

"Now, where have I heard that before," Kristin said, gently scolding him. "No wonder Lucas doesn't come to me when he needs to, just look at you two."

"Don't look so smug, Piccolo," Bridger said in mock sternness. "Things have a way of coming around you know."

"Sitting up here please, Captain!" Kristin said, emphasing his title, but padding her hand on the bed where she wanted him to sit. "Shirt please."

Bridger knew he wasn't going to get out of this one, and did as he was told, removing his shirt. Unfortunately for him, it resulted in a few more grimaces at the protesting muscles that Kristen clearly heard.

Upon observation though, the doctor could clearly see the reason for his discomfort. A large egg sized bruise had formed in the centre of his left shoulder blade, indicating where the rock had hit him as they carried Lucas to the boat.

A thin pinkish welt gave evidence of where a sharper edge of the rock had connected with the bone of his shoulder blade but had not had enough force to break the skin.

"All of this just for the sake of a computer chip," Kristin muttered tersely, as she gently dabbed at the bruise with some antiseptic. "The lengths some people will go just for money," she added.

"That is what we will need to discuss with Lucas when he is well enough," Bridger said on a more serious note. "I don't want to crush his desire for this project, and I doubt any of you do either, but we have to look at what has happened over the past few days and the risk his life has been put into just because of it."

"That's the most sensible statement I have heard all night," Kristin agreed with Bridger, but she knew how much the teenager had poured into his chip.

Lucas had taken great pride in the fact that these companies were fighting over each other and willing to hand over fists full of dollars just for such revoluntary technology.

"Perhaps we can reason with him about slowly down and pulling back a little for a while, until all this has passed. Lord knows, he is going to feel the effects of his captivity over the coming week to remind him of the danger he has faced," Kristin suggested.

"That should heal in a few days, Nathan," Kristin said, finishing her examination and allowing him to put his shirt back on. There wasn't much she could recommend for the bruising except ice packs that she would also suggest to Tony for his injured leg.

"Thanks," Bridger replied, getting of the bed and looking in Lucas's direction. "Guess we had better move him."

"Yes, but not you two," Kristin stated. "Your leg is too sore Tony, and Nathan, you will do more damage to your shoulder. I will call Commander Ford and someone else. You two can supervise and help me get him settled into bed once we get to your quarters.

"She's the boss," Nathan said to Tony, submitting to her plan.

Commander Ford was summoned and came to inform that all was prepared. He was only too happy to help move the injured teenager as Kristin explained the minor injuries that Piccolo and the Captain had sustained.

A few minutes, and Lucas was being laid in the ready made bed in Bridger's quarters. Commander Ford took his leave, telling Bridger that the SeaQuest was secure and he would have control for the rest of the day to allow the Captain to rest and watch over Lucas without being disturbed.

Tony left at the same time, Kristin insisting that Ford give him some assistance in getting to his own cabin, much to the protest of Tony. Piccolo bid the sleeping Lucas to rest easy and promised that he would be visiting first thing when he awoke.

"You don't know what thoughts ran through my head when I first saw him laying on the floor of that cave," Nathan stated, his voice very soft and low in tone.

Kristin paused fluffing the pillow she had just picked up and listened to Bridger's brief admission. She did not want to interrupt it as the chance rarely came along with this man who chose to hide his true feelings and emotions most of the time.

Except when it came to Lucas. And oh boy, how much that teenager followed after Nathan in that respect. She could throttle the both of them at times, but then inwardly recognized for a moment, that it was this very reason that the bond between them was so strong.

That neither of them demanded anything from each other, but depended on each other so strongly, even if there was not always a physical contact that could be seen.

"I can't believe grown men would stoop to such underhanded tactics just to gain the upper hand on a boy Lucas's age," Kristen stated firmly, punching the soft folds of the pillow a little more to get rid of her anger. She soon realised what she was doing and placed the pillow on Lucas's bed, monitoring his sleep.

Between themselves, Kristin and Bridger shared the responsibility of keeping a close eye on their patient. Thankfully, Lucas's sleep appeared to be deep enough for him not to dream and toss or turn about in the bed. Kristin wanted his leg to continue the healing process.

* * *

By 6 am the next morning, the majority of the SeaQuest crew was asleep and the corridors of the large vessel remained quiet. Commander Ford was on duty on the Bridge, but there was only a small skeleton crew maintained for those tasks that could not be ignored.

In Bridger's quarters, one of the figures began to stir, slowly at first. The fog swirling around him threatened to take him again before he had a chance to wake properly. He lay still for a moment, trying to gain his bearings, searching for a coherent thought.

It was only then that Lucas sat bolt up right in bed, gasping for breath as the memory of the cave and his captors hit him full force.

* * *

In a tall building in the city, a single office was lit up and voices could be heard coming from inside:

"You two let him get away!"

Frank and Riley cringed at the anger that was directed at them.

"Technically we didn't let him get away, Boss. Those no good Seaquest people found him," Riley offered in his own defence.

"Technically, you are an idiot," the man shouted back, and began pacing back and forth trying to formulate a new plan and somehow salvage what was left of his previous intentions.

"You of course realise how difficult it is going to be to get anywhere near him now? You bumbling boobs don't realise how much I want what that kid has. And what I am willing to do to get it. The kid has shown that he does not want to co-operate willingly, so we will have to persude him, _the hard way."_

"What have you got in mind?" Frank asked, trying to find a way of getting out.

"As usual, if you can't get something done right, then it is time to do it yourself. Which I intend to do. I still have one ace up my sleeve."

To be continued…………………


	10. RECOUNTING WHAT HAPPENED

**THE SECRET DEVICE**

**By Jules**

**CHAPTER 10 - RECOUNTING WHAT HAPPENED**

**_Some of this chapter has been reposted from the last one as I have lost all of my stories,Including SeaQuest and all my other ones. I will be able to get most of them back, it will just take some time._**

_**I was almost ready to post the next chapter when my computer crashed and took with it what had been written. I apologize for the long delay.**_

**_This chapter may be a little different to what I had written, but I had to start it againfrom scratch, which interrupted the flow a little._**

**_I apologize in advance for the parts you may have already read. I needed to remind myself where I was up to._**

_**And no….. unfortunately none of you are rid of my and my crazy writing yet.**_

_Recap of last what happened at the end of the last chapter:…………_

A sharp turn from the larger boat sent it careening into the lighter, rubber craft, sending Bridger, Piccolo and Ford tumbling over each other in the boat. Lucas had awoken a little with the commotion, but for the most part remained on the seat. None of them realised what was happening until it was almost too late.

As the other craft got close enough and the other crew members were trying to pick themselves up from a second and third ramming, Riley had leaned over even further and before Lucas or the others could stop him, had gotten a grasp on the sneaker of Lucas's good leg.

"Ahhhh," Lucas cried out as he felt his body being pulled awkwardly to the side by Riley. The man was attempting to drag him back into the other boat without any real concern for his current injuries or any fresh ones that he might sustain from such rough treatment.

"Let go," Lucas protested, as he attempted to reach down to pull the offending hand away.

Bridger and Tony saw the brazen attempts and were immediately getting to their feet to stop the man from getting any more of a hold on Lucas.

The two boats were now travelling side by side. Frank had put the larger boat on auto-pilot and was now able to come back and help Riley a little more. He grabbed one of the oars from their boat and was attempting to strike at the smaller craft's outboard motor to damage it and stop the boat's progress altogether. Once they had snatched the kid back again, they could make a fast get away and leave the others drifting on the water.

Ford did his best to thwart Frank's attempts to sabotage their boat with the oar, while the Captain and Tony saw to stopping Riley from taking Lucas.

Lucas had sat up a little now, even though his body was strongly protesting about it. The dizziness was bad, and the headache worse, but his only thoughts were of making his attacker let go of his foot.

"Get away from him," Tony shouted to the man, leaping across the short distance and ready to fight for his younger, more vulnerable friend.

It was right about then that Riley struck out with a closed, clenched fist, meant for Tony. None of them expected what happened next which was for the punch to miss Tony entirely, and catch a totally unsuspecting Lucas on the jaw as he was lifting his shoulders upwards. The blow stunned him, and he instantly fell back against the long seat of the boat, losing his tenuous grip on consciousness.

Whilst Bridger had cried out in outrage at seeing the man punch Lucas without warning, Tony on the other hand, made the point of a more direct approach.

"Why you good for nothing……….," was only the first part of the sentence that he got out before he swung one of his own fists at Riley.

The punch from Tony was good and hard, causing Riley to loose his own balance and fall backwards into their boat on the deck. "That's for Lucas," he shouted with a proud smirk on his face.

It was about now that Commander Ford put the little motor into full throttle in a final attempt to gain some distance between them. As they looked back, it became clear that the two kidnappers had lost interest in catching them now, as they both stood on the deck of their boat, watching the SeaQuest crew scoot across the water. Riley was rubbing absent-mindedly at his chin with a hand, where Tony's punch had connected.

When Bridger finally declared it safe enough to slow down, Tony and he were still at Lucas's side, trying to see how much damage had been inflicted by the wayward blow. A discolouring bruise was already beginning to form and stood out in contrast due to the already pale skin.

"Going to have a good bruise, but I don't think there is any permanent damage," Bridger commented, knowing that he was no medical doctor and that Kristen would be horrified about what had caused the small swelling and bruise in the first place.

Lucas was just beginning to regain consciousness again and reached out blindly with his hand, looking for the source of the pain, not wanting to open his eyes into the light as he knew this would only make it worse.

"Should we give him anything for the pain?" Tony asked, knowing that Lucas's leg must have been aching badly by now without the medication that Kristen had prescribed since his forced kidnapping. With the added discomfort of the punch, he knew that the kid needed all the help and relief he could get.

"No, I don't think so, not just now. We only have a short distance back to the SeaQuest now, and I don't want to tamper with his system until Kristin has taken a good look at him and the drugs that they have already injected into him. He is only partially awake at the moment, and not really aware of everything that is going on. Tomorrow might be a different story when he wakes up," Bridger answered.

"How about the milk in this thermos that Kristen gave us then? I don't know when he ate or drank last, or even if they gave him anything at all since the party," Tony asked, wanting to offer a little help. His own hand stung from the punch he had delivered and the knuckles were slightly red. His own leg was throbbing badly and would be discoloured nicely to match the bruise on Lucas's face no doubt.

"Okay, but only a little, until Kristin checks him over properly," Bridger agreed. "I don't think he will want much anyway," he added, looking down at the teenager, who still seemed asleep for the most part.

Tony gave the thermos to Bridger, afraid that he might not be able to pour it slowly enough. Bridger woke Lucas as best he could to tell the teenager what they were doing, but with merely a few grunts of pain to indicate that he was alert enough, he signalled for Tony to lift the boy's head a little to take the liquid sustenance.

While this was happening, Ford had taken over the steering of the boat again and had also taken on the job of attempting to contact the SeaQuest whilst the Captain and Piccolo attended to the injured Lucas.

"Yes, we found him," Ford was able to say through a crackled transmission to the SeaQuest. A harsh sounding whoop of joy could be heard from the other end at the news that Lucas was safe.

"Doctor Westphalen will need to be on standby as soon as we come in," Ford now said, wanting for Kristen to be ready when they arrived to take care of the patient. She was surprised to learn that she might well have two patients instead of one when Ford explained about Tony having a possible leg injury that would need attention.

Piccolo had wanted to object to needing any medical treatment, but the radio transmission was ended before he could voice his protest. He knew that Kristen would be waiting, but also knew that he and Lucas would be in good hands.

"I am not going to let anything else happen to you after this, Lucas," Bridger whispered as he lay the boy's head in his lap for the last part of the journey and gently stroked the blond locks as Lucas slept.

* * *

_and now the story continues a little more ……………._

Ten minutes after arriving back at the SeaQuest, Commander Ford and the rest of the rescue group were quickly taken aboard, to find a very anxious and waiting Doctor Kristen Westphalen.

Lucas was the first concern of course, not having awoken since the later part of the boat journey. Tony and Bridger had assumed this was mostly due to the residual effects of the drug concoction in his system and the rough treatment he had received in the hands of Riley and his side kick.

Jonathan Ford had helped Tony Piccolo to Med-Bay, not wanting to admit his injury, but becoming a little worried about the amount of stiffness that he was experiencing. He had begrudgingly agreed to see the doctor, but only after Lucas had been tended to first. This also gave him the opportunity of being able to check on the condition of his young friend from Kristin herself.

"It don't really hurt that bad, Commander" Tony said through clenched teeth, trying to hide his pain from Ford.

"Sure it isn't," Commander Ford replied, not buying anything the unorthodox seaman had to say.

"Coming from the same man when he first came on this vessel, told me that he wouldn't be here more than a week, because you had a confirmed appointment with the President."

"I did too, dirty rotten fink that he is, reneged on our deal," Tony tried to answer seriously, but grinned when he saw the Commander doing the same. Ford shook his head as they continued down the corridor towards Med-Bay. Somethings around here didn't change, and he hoped they never did.

Tony took position on a medical bed next to the one that Bridger had set Lucas down on. Westfalen and he both now hovered around it, Kristin very clinical in her approach at first as she set to tending to Lucas's various injuries.

Clearly written on her face though was a mixture of concern about the young man laying before her and a sense of relief that he had been rescued from his kidnappers.

Bridger ended up sitting in an aluminium chair beside Lucas's bed, forcing himself to get out of Kristin's way and allow her time before being able to make her diagnosis.

"I want to take a look at this foot first," Kristin said, explaining her methods as she worked. Lucas had not shown any signs of regaining consciousness yet, but that was to be expected given the concoction of drugs that had been forced upon him. Not to mention the rough treatment he had endured.

The outside of the special cast was filthy. A combination of that rough treatment and when he had laid on the cave floor. Kristin was concerned that the small bone break might have been turned into something substantially more serious.

Kristin carefully began undoing the cast. It was the only way to assess if any further injury had been sustained to the bones. "I might need your assistance here for a moment," she said in Bridger's direction. She didn't have to ask twice.

"Just put your hands here," she directed, "I want you to hold his leg firm and as still as you can until I can see if the bones have been disturbed. I will have to remove this cast and replace it with a new one."

Bridger did as he was told, placing one hand firmly above the cast and one as gently as he could near the bottom. Just as he put his second hand on the cast, a groan was heard from the teenager.

Lucas murmured in pain and turned his head as though an attempt to escape the source.

"He moved," Tony blurted out, speaking the blatant obvious, almost losing his own balance off the edge of the bed.

"You stay exactly where you are Mr Piccolo," Kristin issued in a stern voice.

"Don't put any more pressure on that leg than is absolutely necessary." But she could see from the exertion on Tony's face that even that small sudden jerk had inflamed the damage to own leg.

Kristin bent over Lucas's face, his eyes still closed, and seemingly asleep. She used the palm of her hand to feel the gentle breaths he was exhaling. "Lucas, can you hear me honey?" She waited before repeating the question.

Kristin gently brushed the hair out of his eyes hoping to invoke a response from the unconscious teenager. "Lucas?" No response again so she went back to assessing the damage to his foot.

"His breathing is a little shallow, but nothing to be over worried about," Kristin informed the small group of onlookers, as she turned her attention to the cast.

"I can't risk giving any more pain medication at present due to the mixture he has already had his captors. Hold him once more please, Nathan, but be prepared as this may hurt him," Kristin warned.

"Commander Ford, please hand me that pair of cutters on that table there," Kristin requested. "The only way to take this off without causing too much pain is by cutting it off altogether."

"Hold him steady, Nathan," Kristin repeated to Bridger.

Kristin used the sharp metal blades to cut through the flexible material that made up the cast. It was a little stiff in places from where it had come into contact with moisture. She was almost down the length of the cast when Lucas began to stir again.

At first his awakening was no more than moans from the pain and turning his head from side to side as he tried to fight the dizziness that assailed him. But the semi-consciousness state caused him to be confused and disoriented.

Lucas began to feel more of the pain beginning to flare in his leg and Kristin's actions, although gentle as she could, made the teenager more alert. His system was running on adrenaline and had yet to feel to full impact of exhaustion.

"It's alright, Lucas, Kristin is trying to fix your foot. You are safe now, but you just need to keep still for a few more minutes," Bridger said, trying to reassure the teenager that the worst was now over.

Part of Lucas's brain registered what was being said to him, the other parts were winding down as a result of the deeper sense of exhaustion that was beginning to set in.

He was telling himself he should open his eyes and talk to the voice that he could hear, but the effort to raise his eyelids was more than he could muster at the moment.

"_Too tired…….." _

These were the only two words that Lucas managed to mumble before succumbing to the tiredness that wouldn't let go. He felt himself drifting away from conscious thoughts and couldn't remember what it was now that he wanted to do.

"You just rest, and let us take care of everything," Bridger whispered, running his hand through the untidy blond locks on Lucas's forehead. Feeling for the first time since this whole saga began, that the teenager was at last back with them and safe.

"He really sounds tired," Tony commented, hearing the drawl in his friend's voice and seeing the level of exhaustion etched on his young face.

"He should be just fine, Tony," Kristin replied, knowing how close the two friends were.

There wasn't too many times that Piccolo showed a more sensitive side to his personality. He always liked to put on a mask so to speak and not let anybody see the real Tony. Much like a certain blond teenager too. Too afraid to let anybody else in. The friendship between them made perfect sense.

"Commander Ford, could you please ask two crew members to get a bed ready for Lucas in Bridger's quarters. By then I should be finished examining his leg and be able to give a better assessment," Kristin suggested.

"Your going to let him stay out of Med-Bay tonight?" Tony queried, thinking it odd rather than a bad thing. Kristen was known for being strict with adhering to medical advice, but Lucas was about the only one he knew of that got special treatment. Except maybe the Captain himself.

"Ordinarily, I would not agree," Kristin responded, see Tony trying to turn her rules back against her. "But Lucas was forcibly taken away from those people who care and love him. He might be very anxious in the weeks to come. He might be flighty around people he doesn't know or unfamiliar surroundings."

"Yeah, you can say that again, that cave wasn't exactly the warmest or cheerful of places," Tony interrupted briefly.

"I think it would be better if he was near the people that he is most comfortable with, like the Captain, you and myself. He probably doesn't want to be bombarded all at once about what happened for him, and for a time, he may want to forget or deny it happened at all," Kristen continued.

"But it has to be better for him to talk about it doesn't it?" Tony offered in logic.

"Yes, but at a pace that he is comfortable with, Tony. Lucas is someone who hides his emotions and feelings at the best of times, even from us. We can predict how he may react to something like being kidnapped, but have to be prepared to exactly the opposite if it happens."

"I hear what you are saying, Doc. I will make sure that the rest of the boat gives him some space for a couple of days. They are probably going to want to know how he is."

"I suspect they will too, but I would appreciate your help in limiting the number of visitors for a few days, until Lucas begins to recover a little more. The first few days will see him resting as much as possible and probably longer than that, allowing his foot to heal more again," Bridger asked, seeing

Kristin nod her head in agreement of such a suggestion.

"Make sure the bed is padded a lot with extra blankets on the bottom," Kristin instructed Ford. "I want to put some pillows under his knee to support the leg as well. I will monitor his temperature for a few hours, but it doesn't greatly concern me at present."

"It shall be done," Ford said formerly. "I will check back on how you are doing later," he said to Tony before leaving to find two volunteers.

Tony and Bridger were forced to wait another ten minutes whilst Kristin removed the remainder of the flexible cast and gently assessed the damage.

An x-ray was the best course of action, and thankfully with Lucas asleep, he offered little resistence. He had murmured incoherently when she had handled his injured foot, but his slumber too deep for him to feel any great pain. No doubt the story would be different once the teenager was conscious and more alert.

"Fortunately for Lucas, the bones appear to be still aligned. No displacement that I can see immediately. That is what I feared the most when I saw the state of the outside of the cast," Kristin explained as she worked.

"There is a little swelling around the top of the foot though, and the redness of the surrouding skin suggests some inflammation."

"I am going to rewrap his foot and then place a fresh flexible cast on his lower leg. That will help support it as it did before, and hopefully without too much activity or jarring over the next few days, the bones should continue to mend without too much interference," Kristin stated.

"So glad you are going to be okay, Kiddo," Bridger said to Lucas as he watched him sleep. "We gave him some milk from a thermos on the boat," he remembered.

"That wouldn't have done him any harm. It might have proven a benefit in coating his stomach against the concoction of drugs he received. The milk should absorb some of the drugs, and allow any side effects to be decreased."

Twenty minutes later, mostly watched in silence by Bridger and Piccolo as Kristin worked on Lucas's leg and put a fresh cast in place.

"Hand me that blanket from underneath there, Nathan," Kristin said, pointing to a trolley nearby. "And two of those pillows."

Bridger watched as the two pillows were carefully placed underneath Lucas's knee, raising the foot to an acceptable level that allowed support and decreased any stress on the bones or muscles.

Kristen placed another two fresh pillows underneath Lucas's head, and then covered him with two warm blue blankets. He had been cold in the cave, causing a slight low grade fever, but she didn't want to risk him developing a chill.

The doctor had tried up until now to ignore the bruise that was beginning to darken on the teenager's face. The leg had been the most serious injury, but now that it was taken care of and treated, Kristin went to the extra lengths to check out any other bumps Lucas may have suffered at the hands of his kidnappers.

"How did he get this?" Kristin asked, already suspecting some sort of physical blow from the position on his face.

"Some of those guys went to hit me," Piccolo admitted. "Somehow he missed and hit Luke there. Knocked him clean over in the boat."

Kristin clenched her unseen hand onto a sheet, controlling the anger she felt that someone would strike Lucas. Keeping her doctor persona though, she turned her attention to its after effects rather than the cause.

"Seems to be mostly superficial. Only fresh though, so may be worse in the morning. I suspect it is tender to the touch," Kristen remarked, giving her opinion orally.

"Lets him some rest for now, I can access his pain level through the day if he wakes. Hopefully, with crossed fingers, he should sleep soundly though most of the afternoon," Kristin instructed.

* * *

"Now," she said firmly, turning attention to two new suspected patients. "Which one of you wants to go first!"

Tony and Bridger both looked at each other and then Kristin, hoping that both of them would be able to slip under her radar whilst she was more concerned about taking care of Lucas.

"Him first," Tony said, pointing to the Captain. Kristin took the opportunity that presented itself and grabbed at his out stretched hand.

"Now lay down on your stomach for me Mr Piccolo," Kristin said, hoping the sterner tone of voice would get him to comply.

Piccolo reluctantly did so, but could only glare back at Bridger who was smirking to himself from behind Kristen's back at the seaman.

"It doesn't really hurt that much now, Doc," Piccolo tried to say in his own defence. It was Luke here that needed the care, not me."

"Doesn't hurti huh?" Kristin asked impartially as she gently began to touch the bruised skin on the back of his lower calf.

"Yipe!"

"I'll take that as a yes," Kristin said, never understanding why men tried to behind a tough outer mask. Most of them never admitted to injury unless it was forced upon them.

Tony was surprised himself just how much it hurt. He had momentarily forgotten about it while they watched over Lucas, but now the residual soreness was apparent.

Though clenched teeth, Tony let the doctor continue her examination, though he found to difficult to hold back from calling out when she had accidentally pressed on a particularly tight spot. The muscles felt as though they were knotted together, and there was a slight stiffness that he described to Kristen.

"Well, I think you will live, Tony," Kristin said with a sly smile, but with genuine regard for his wellbeing. "It may be tender for a week or so, and like Lucas, I suggest you stay off that leg for a few days. I will give you some inflammatory medicine that will help ease most of the pain."

"Its alright, doc, I am tough enough to put up with the pain," Tony said, turning himself over and preparing to get off the examination table. "I come from a long line of……………" was all he managed to get out as he allowed his feet to touch the floor.

"Yipes" he cried out once more, holding onto the bed until the sharp burst of pain began to subside. He raised the foot a little to ease his body weight off that foot.

"You were saying?" Bridger said with a laugh.

"I was saying, I better take a bit of that medicine, Doc," Tony admitted sheepishly. "But what about you too?" he now added, making sure that he wasn't the only one that the doctor had to look over skeptically.

"Nathan?" Kristin turned and asked at Tony's words. She knew only too well that when it came to admitting pain, Bridger was worse than Tony or Lucas.

"It's nothing really," Bridger said as he began to back pedal a few steps, rotating his injured shoulder as he did so to check that there had been no miraculous recovery. Much to his dismay there had not been and his face turned into a grimace at the protesting muscles.

"Now, where have I heard that before," Kristin said, gently scolding him. "No wonder Lucas doesn't come to me when he needs to, just look at you two."

"Don't look so smug, Piccolo," Bridger said in mock sternness. "Things have a way of coming around you know."

"Sitting up here please, Captain!" Kristin said, emphasing his title, but padding her hand on the bed where she wanted him to sit. "Shirt please."

Bridger knew he wasn't going to get out of this one, and did as he was told, removing his shirt. Unfortunately for him, it resulted in a few more grimaces at the protesting muscles that Kristin clearly heard.

Upon observation though, the doctor could clearly see the reason for his discomfort. A large egg sized bruise had formed in the centre of his left shoulder blade, indicating where the rock had hit him as they carried Lucas to the boat.

A thin pinkish welt gave evidence of where a sharper edge of the rock had connected with the bone of his shoulder blade but had not had enough force to break the skin.

"All of this just for the sake of a computer chip," Kristin muttered tersely, as she gently dabbed at the bruise with some antiseptic. "The lengths some people will go just for money," she added.

"That is what we will need to discuss with Lucas when he is well enough," Bridger said on a more serious note. "I don't want to crush his desire for this project, and I doubt any of you do either, but we have to look at what has happened over the past few days and the risk his life has been put into just because of it."

"That's the most sensible statement I have heard all night," Kristin agreed with Bridger, but she knew how much the teenager had poured into his chip.

Lucas had taken great pride in the fact that these companies were fighting over each other and willing to hand over fists full of dollars just for such revoluntary technology.

"Perhaps we can reason with him about slowly down and pulling back a little for a while, until all this has passed. Lord knows, he is going to feel the effects of his captivity over the coming week to remind him of the danger he has faced," Kristin suggested.

"That should heal in a few days, Nathan," Kristin said, finishing her examination and allowing him to put his shirt back on. There wasn't much she could recommend for the bruising except ice packs that she would also suggest to Tony for his injured leg.

"Thanks," Bridger replied, getting of the bed and looking in Lucas's direction. "Guess we had better move him."

"Yes, but not you two," Kristen stated. "Your leg is too sore Tony, and Nathan, you will do more damage to your shoulder. I will call Commander Ford and someone else. You two can supervise and help me get him settled into bed once we get to your quarters.

"She's the boss," Nathan said to Tony, submitting to her plan.

* * *

Commander Ford was summoned and came to inform that all was prepared. He was only too happy to help move the injured teenager as Kristin explained the minor injuries that Piccolo and the Captain had sustained.

A few minutes, and Lucas was being laid in the ready made bed in Bridger's quarters. Commander Ford took his leave, telling Bridger that the SeaQuest was secure and he would have control for the rest of the day to allow the Captain to rest and watch over Lucas without being disturbed.

Tony left at the same time, Kristin insisting that Ford give him some assistance in getting to his own cabin, much to the protest of Tony. Piccolo bid the sleeping Lucas to rest easy and promised that he would be visiting first thing when he awoke.

"You don't know what thoughts ran through my head when I first saw him laying on the floor of that cave," Nathan stated, his voice very soft and low in tone.

Kristin paused fluffing the pillow she had just picked up and listened to Bridger's brief admission. She did not want to interrupt it as the chance rarely came along with this man who chose to hide his true feelings and emotions most of the time.

Except when it came to Lucas. And oh boy, how much that teenager followed after Nathan in that respect. She could throttle the both of them at times, but then inwardly recognized for a moment, that it was this very reason that the bond between them was so strong.

That neither of them demanded anything from each other, but depended on each other so strongly, even if there was not always a physical contact that could be seen.

"I can't believe grown men would stoop to such underhanded tactics just to gain the upper hand on a boy Lucas's age," Kristin stated firmly, punching the soft folds of the pillow a little more to get rid of her anger. She soon realised what she was doing and placed the pillow on Lucas's bed, monitoring his sleep.

Between themselves, Kristin and Bridger shared the responsibility of keeping a close eye on their patient. Thankfully, Lucas's sleep appeared to be deep enough for him not to dream and toss or turn about in the bed. Kristin wanted his foot to continue the healing process.

* * *

By 6 am the next morning, the majority of the SeaQuest crew was asleep and the corridors of the large vessel remained quiet. Commander Ford was on duty on the Bridge, but there was only a small skeleton crew maintained for those tasks that could not be ignored.

In Bridger's quarters, one of the figures began to stir, slowly at first. The fog swirling around him threatened to take him again before he had a chance to wake properly. He lay still for a moment, trying to gain his bearings, searching for a coherent thought.

It was only then that Lucas sat bolt up right in bed, gasping for breath as the memory of the cave and his captors hit him full force.

* * *

In a tall building in the city, a single office was lit up and voices could be heard coming from inside:

"You two let him get away!"

Frank and Riley cringed at the anger that was directed at them.

"Technically we didn't let him get away, Boss no good Seaquest people found him," Riley offered in his own defence.

"Technically, you are an idiot," the man shouted back, and began pacing back and forth trying to formulate a new plan and somehow salvage what was left of his previous intentions.

"You of course realise how difficult it is going to be to get anywhere near him now? You bumbling boobs don't realise how much I want what that kid has. And what I am willing to do to get it. The kid has shown that he does not want to co-operate willingly, so we will have to persuade him, _the hard way."_

"What have you got in mind?" Frank asked, trying to find a way of getting out.

"As usual, if you can't get something done right, then it is time to do it yourself. Which I intend to do.

"I still have one ace up my sleeve."

* * *

Lucas held his breath for a moment, before slowly letting it out. The cabin was only dimly lit, and the teenager had to wait for his eyes to adjust. As he looked about the room he saw a figure sprawled on the couch on the other side of the room.

Lucas recognized that it was Bridger, but thankfully the captain's sleep had not been disturbed.

It took a few moments for the teenager to remember what had pulled him from his slumber. He vaguely remembered being rescued, and he recalled there being a boat, but everything else was still too jumbled.

His body was beginning to hurt, especially his injured leg. The blankets that covered him concealed the new cast that had been applied, but he could feel the additional weight and a new stiffness.

Lucas groaned, and attempted to lay back down on the bed. A shuffling of feet had and a pair of hands on his shoulders, but his eyelids were beginning to droop and a powerful wave of exhaustion began to wash over him.

For a moment he thought he could hear a voice calling his name, but it sounded too far away and he fell too tired too answer back.

Bridger sighed as he watched the teenager fall back into repose. He had heard Lucas gasp out in pain, but the young man was still appeared to be in a state of confusion.

He was relieved to see Lucas struggle to consciousness, but was worried about what effect the kidnapping would have and how much the teenager remembered about what happened.

The captain was helping to make you more comfortable and adjusting the bedclothes over his charge when there was a small knock at the door and Kristin came in.

"Has he been restless?"she asked, falling into doctor mode. She checked is breathing and the cast, teenager's leg.

"He was trying to sit up, and sounded like he was hurting. By the time I walked across the room, he was drifting back to sleep," Bridger replied.

Kristin carefully lifted back the blanket to examine the cast on Lucas' leg, without waking him. "He looks comfortable enough. We will have to keep an eye on him until the drugs in his system wear off."

"You should try and get some more sleep yourself," Kristin admonished playfully. "You look as though you need it."

"I can't help but think what could have happened to him out there. What did happened to him out there. A lot of things could have gone wrong or worse than they did," Bridger commented, his hands digging into the back of a chair showing how he was feeling inside."

"I know you blame yourself, but we have to think of Lucas right now and be there for him when he needs us," Kristin said, placing a sympathetic hand on his back. "You cannot focus on the things that you had no control over."

"Thanks," Bridger smiled. "Always knowing the words to say and always there for us."

"For you and Lucas, absolutely!"

"You get some rest, and I will watch over our patient for a while" Kristin offered.

"I will take you up on that offer, but I really should make my way to the bridge and relieve Jonathan. With only a skeleton staff, it hasn't been a easy on him lately."

"But first, I am going to grab a hot cup of coffee," Bridger informed the doctor. _'I really could go for some extra sleep later on_,' he muttered to himself.

* * *

As he made his way through the quiet corridors towards the bridge, Nathan was reminded how stiff his own muscles were. The shoulder blade where the stray rock struck, was aching something fierce.

He tried to push it from his mind as more important matters needed his attention. As the two large doors leading to the bridge opened, and the alarm signalled his arrival, Commander Jonathan Ford looked grateful for the reprieve.

"How are things going, Commander?" the Captain heard himself ask out of routine.

Now that he looked about the room, Nathan acknowledged that presence of Miguel Ortiz, and Communications Officer, Tim O'Neill.

"Cannot seem to be able to keep these two away from a place," Ford said in mock sternness. Truth was they had offered to take the helm and let the Commander get some sleep after returning from rescuing Lucas. Up until a few minutes ago, the two of them had been trying to badger him to finish his shift.

"How is Lucas doing?" Ford now enquired, knowing that the rest of the crew were just as keen to know have a teenager was. The commander recalled the weakened condition they had found the young friend in.

"As well as can be expected for now," Bridger answered generally. "He needs a lot of rest to heal and as much reassurance as we can all give him. It is not going to be easy for him."

"No, I don't suppose it will be," Ford replied. He knew that Lucas tried to put on a tough act most of the time in front of the crew. This was a self defence mechanism to the teenager had learnt to attain and keep his independence. They all had to hope that it helped the young man to cope this time around.

"Has anyone checked on Tony since he was taken to his quarters?" the Captain asked those in the room.

"I took the liberty of checking on him about an hour ago before I came to the Bridge, Captain," O'Neill responded. "He looked to sleeping peacefully enough."

"Thank you," Nathan said appreciatively, knowing that the mild mannered man would have done so for any of the SeaQuest crew.

Bridger, could now see from the pleading looks of his crew that they were hoping a more authorotive voice might work to get Jonathan to take some rest himself.

Normally, Jim Brody would have been able to actively take over command at short notice, but he had been unavoidably called away, at a time when his skills and expertise would have been gladly welcomed.

"Thank you, Commander, I will take control of the SeaQuest now," Nathan said in a tone of voice that didn't leave in room for compromise.

Jonathan gave a small smile in appreciation to O'Neill and Ortiz as he left.

Bridger took up his usual place at the Captain's station and began monitoring their progress over the past few hours. There was nothing urgent to be done, that had been completed when they brought Lucas back aboard, but he needed to keep his mind alert and stop himself from falling asleep.

That four hours later, Bridger's thoughts were interrupted by Tim O'Neill trying to get his attention.

"Sir, I have a call coming in. Normally I wouldn't want to bother you with it, except it is from a Mr Collins, asking to talk to Lucas," Tim explained.

"Thank you, transfer it over to here, Lieutenant. Lucas is still asleep and I have no intention of waking him until he is ready."

"Aye, Captain," Tim remarked and did as he was asked.

Bridger proceeded to address the person wanting to talk to Lucas. It wasn't until the man identified himself that he recognized the voice coming from the man who had met with Lucas a few days ago over the microchip.

Although polite, the man was clearly anxious and nervous while talking on the phone, that his company had been overlooked. Bridger certainly didn't want to tell the man about Lucas' kidnapping or the injuries he had sustained as a result.

"I am afraid that Lucas is under a doctor's orders to rest as much as possible for the next few days and is unable to come to the phone at the moment. When he is feeling better, I will get him to call you," Bridger said, not completely telling a lie.

He rolled his eyes and pinched the top of his nose in frustration as Collins wanted to ask a dozen questions about the teenager's condition. Nathan informed him that Lucas was still having trouble with his leg. Collins seemed happy enough with this explanation, having remembered the young man having to use crutches at the meeting.

Bridger terminated the transmission, pleased that Collins was prepared to wait for the teenager to recover and then make a decision.

Now that the Bridge was fairly quiet, Nathan thought that he may be able to slip away and see how Kristin was doing and if Lucas was awake yet.

He passed control of the Bridge over to a very capable and aspiring Ortiz, who readily accepted the responsibility with pride.

* * *

Excusing himself, Bridger headed towards the galley before going to his quarters. He made a fresh pot of coffee, and a tray with 2 cups and a jug of milk. He was almost ready to leave, deciding at the last moment to add a glass of juice in case his young charge was awake.

Being as quiet as he could, the Captain entered his own quarters, greeted by a smile from Kristen who had been reading quietly on a chair seated next to Lucas.

Setting down the tray on a nearby coffee time, Kristin set aside her book and joined him. She could see Nathan's attention immediately go to the young man laying in the bed.

"He hasn't moved since you left, but I expected as much. His body is taking the necessary time for to heal," Kristin reassured him.

Bridger had poured two cups of coffee, handing one to the doctor, but leaving his and walking over to Lucas' bed. He had not intended to disturb the young man's rest, but unconsciously found his hand running through the uncontrollable blonde locks.

To his surprise the young man turned his head towards the touch, and let out an audible breath. "I think he's beginning to stir," he announced to Kristin. Despite the doctor's words about needing rest, Nathan was relieved to see Lucas beginning to wake and gently encouraged him.

"Can you hear me, Lucas?" continuing his soothing motions, noting that the teenager's eyelids were beginning to flicker.

Kristin stood nearby watching for any signs of distress, or pain that might be visible. "Take his hand and see if he responds a little more."

Bridger did as the doctor suggested and was rewarded by Lucas turning his head on the pillow once more.

The teenager frowned a little and slowly opened his eyes, only to squeeze and close them again and winced at the pain in his head. He opened his eyes again to see two worried faces looking at him.

To the captain and the doctor observing, the confusion was very evident but at the same time, the recognition that showed in Lucas' blue eyes allowed and to relax a little.

" C_aptain?" _Lucas managed to say, his voice barely above a whisper.

Kristin handed Bridger a small cup of plain water, which was held for the young man to drink from. As the cool water trickled down his throat, the teenager began to show signs of his strength returning a little.

After laying on his back for a number of hours, Lucas attempted to sit up, but did so too quickly, the dizziness assailing him.

"Hey, take it easy for a minute," Bridger said. "You have had a pretty rough time of it lately. We only just finished putting you back together," he added with a grin. Lucas gave no indication that he had heard the comment, but gave a grunt of pain as his leg moved.

Fortunately the dizziness soon abated and Lucas became much more alert, pulling himself up and leaning back against the pillows.

"How are you feeling?" the doctor asked, knowing it was the first question to be asked a feeling a little foolish as soon as the words were spoken.

Lucas displayed none of his usual vagueness or attempts at masking his pain, that they had come to know from past experience. The boy's eyes still showed signs of fatigue and were bloodshot. His posture and lack of enthusiasm demonstrated that he had yet to fully recall his ordeal.

"My foot is hurting and I have a dull headache," he answered truthfully in a dull tone.

Kristin stood on the opposite side of the bed, "I am afraid I cannot give you anything at the moment because of the toxicity of your blood." She realized after speaking, that Lucas was not in any frame of mind to absorb such technical talk."

"I will give you something as soon as I can," she now rephrased, giving him as much reassurance as she could.

Now it was Lucas' turn to ask a question, "How long have I been asleep?"

"A few hours," Bridger informed him.

" I still feel so heavy," Lucas admitted, is words directed at nobody in particular.

" I can't describe it, just that I feel weird."

"Are you hungry?" Kristin asked, trying to avoid explaining why he felt this way.

Nathan offered to go and get food for all three of them. The teenager had left the question unanswered, but they needed to get him eating regular meals again if he was to recover fully.

Small meals to begin with, consisting of soft foods to account for the days in captivity where he received little nourishment or water.

"I will be right back," Bridger told them, leaving the room.

Kristin took the glass of juice from the coffee table and offered it Lucas, the teenager accepting it with thanks. He took a mouthful before setting aside. The doctor did not want to pressure him into conversation if he did not wish to, but was hoping he would open up a little more to her.

Just when Kristin thought the silence between them was growing, Lucas spoke, "Is everyone back safe?" he asked

"Yes, you all made it back safe and sound," she replied, wondering what are the questions he had yet to ask and whether she would have the answer he sought. "I am going to take a look at your leg and make sure the cast is in place."

The doctor pulled back the blankets and began examining the limb, ensuring that she could see the boy's face during the procedure. Although he did not talk, he seemed interested in what she was doing.

"I had to replace the old one," she informed him, noticing his questioning look at the new flexible cast that adorned his leg. "The old one was a little battered and dirty when they brought you in."

Lucas swallowed a lump in his throat, as the remembering some of the details of why the old cast was battered and dirty. He looked away and let her continue her inspection with a feigned expression of disinterest.

Kristin pulled the blankets back up to his chest and continued to fuss over them for a few more seconds until Bridger came back through the door, balancing trays in his hands.

Lucas was caught in the middle of a tide of mixed emotions. Part of him was certainly grateful to be back aboard the SeaQuest and in the company of people who cared for him. The other part of him had a strong streak of independence, baulking at the attention.

For now, he could see the tiredness that he felt in Bridger and Kristin, and knew that they must have been worried about him since the kidnapping. Knowing both of them, they would have not left any stone unturned and would have put a lot of effort into finding him.

The teenager had seen the results of some of that effort, when Tony and Commander Ford turned up with Bridger at the cave and managed to rescue him in the boat. He still had no idea how he knew that he was there.

"I should wash my face and take care of some personal needs," Lucas replied, pulling back the covers Kristen had been so carefully placing over him. "I don't know how this is going to go," he admitted.

"Just take it steady," Kristin warned. "The cast should support your weight as before, but your body might not so co-operative," she predicted.

Lucas gingerly pulled himself into a standing position, but found himself a little uneasy with balance. He grasped out at reached Kristin's supportive shoulder.

"Thanks," he said sheepishly, adding a little smile.

"You are welcome," she responded, seeing that her assumptions were not far off.

The young man was surprised how good the cast felt, somehow thinking that the battering his leg had taken and expecting some more pain than he was currently experiencing. He took the first few steps on his own, but knowing that the doctor wasn't too far away is his step should falter.

Kristin too, did her best to cater to his sense of independence, but offered any help if he asked for it. Part of the mothering instinct in her kicked in and she had a tirade of words to lecture him about moving to quickly and that he shouldn't be out of bed, but they were never uttered out loud.

Lucas made it to the bathroom, but could feel that his body was a little more tired that it should be after such a short excursion across the room. Thankfully Kristin left him mostly to his own devices and did not want to intrude on his personal space.

"You did well," the doctor commented at the food Nathan had brought, but she already suspected he knew what would be best. Picking up a cup she began to pour some piping hot coffee into it for herself.

"He is doing okay," she mentioned, watching Nathan's gaze drift towards the bathroom and the sound of running water.

"Has he said anything to you yet?" he asked, not able to help but ask the question.

"No, but I didn't really expect him to."

The quiet conversation ended before it really got underway by the door to the bathroom opening and Lucas emerging with damp hair.

"Feel better?" the Captain asked casually.

"You bet," the teenager responded, but none of the usual animation to his voice that they were used to hearing.

Lucas went back to sit on the bed, only to have Bridger approach and hand him the plate of eggs and place the glass of juice nearby.

"Eat up, pal."

"Thanks, they smell good," Lucas replied, accepting the plate. Given the chance, he would have declined any food, but he didn't have the heart to refuse when his health and wellbeing meant a lot to the both of them.

Leaving him to his breakfast, Bridger and Kristin dined together only a short distance away, trying not to encroach on the boy too much.

Lucas used the cutlery on the plate and moved it around enough for them to believe that he was making an attempt to eat. Without realizing it, he began drifting off in to a little world of his own. It looked as though he was in deep thought about something, or trying to remember.

All of a sudden, Tony burst into the room, startling Lucas from his thoughts, causing the plate to fall from his hands and to tumble to the floor along with the cutlery.

"Tony!" came the shocked exclamation from both Kristin and Bridger, but they could see from his face that he was sorry.

"Oh gee, sorry Luke, I didn't mean that," Tony spluttered, moving to help clean up the mess on the floor.

"It is okay," Lucas said quietly, feeling a little embarrassed that he had reacted like that to somebody just coming in the room.

"You all right?" Tony asked, concerned that he had genuinely frightened the teenager and worried about the wrath he might get from the doctor and Captain.

"Yeah, just afraid of my own shadow it seems," Lucas said, not knowing how else to explain it.

Sometimes Kristin could just kick Tony for his uncouth behaviour and abrupt manner. Bridger was thinking along the same line as she, when they heard what Lucas had to say next.

"You know you can come and talk to me anytime," Piccolo offered.

"I know, and thanks. If I need to, I know where to find you," Lucas answered.

"I will come back by later and check how you are doing," Tony said, glad to hear his friend's answer, but noting the looks of daggers he was getting from other in the room.

"You and I will have a little _discussion _later, on how to _knock_ on a door," Kristin hissed as Tony neared the door."

* * *

Bridger smirked at the look on Piccolo's face as he realized what he was in for, and opened his mouth to reply, but no sound came out. He gave the seaman a look of empathy.

"I didn't mean to act so jumpy just now," the young man commented. "I mean I don't exactly feel threatened sitting here now, but I guess a small part of me is remembering what happened."

"I think a lot more of you is remembering what happened," Kristin rationalized. "Not just your mind, but your body is tired from the lack of sleep you experienced and no doubt you are hurting in more than a few places. All of this is only natural after being through something like this.

Lucas spoke softly, "I guess you both want to hear the full story too?"

"Only if you want to talk about it, Lucas," Kristin said, walking across the room and sitting gently at the end of the bed.

"You may not want to revisit some areas of your kidnapping just yet," Bridger said standing behind the doctor.

"And it doesn't have to be us that you talk to," Kristin added. "Remember, Tony just offered for you to talk to him if you feel uncomfortable to talk to us."

"Actually, I think it would help for me to talk about it," he responded, almost laughing at the look on Kristin's face. "Yes I know how you physiatrists think."

"Studies have shown it to be more helpful for victims to talk of their ordeal closer to the time of the event," Kristin commented in a clinical tone.

"Only that I don't really remember a whole lot of it," Lucas admitted.

"There is nothing to be ashamed of, Lucas," Bridger assured him. "We can talk for as long as you like. If you get bored or just don't want to talk anymore we can stop."

"Would you like Tony to be here?" Kristin enquired, wondering if the presence of a friend would help him.

Lucas thought about the question for a moment, signaling negatively, but then felt the need to explain himself further about the decision. "It is not because I don't respect him as a friend or confidante. But because I don't really want him to hear about some of the things that happened," his gaze falling to the bed clothes as he spoke.

Bridger and Kristin didn't comment further, but looked at each other with an unspoken question about what might have happened that they had yet to hear about. Both of them suspected neither of them would be comfortable hearing any details of what Lucas experienced.

"If it is alright with you two though, I would like to sleep for a little while first," Lucas interjected. He knew they were waiting to hear what happened after the party that night, but his head was still aching a little, and he didn't think it would help him to keep things straight in his mind. Maybe he was avoiding it a little? Delaying it? Perhaps

"Of course we don't mind," Kristin stated, noting the hesitation.

Lucas laid down and closed his eyes, trying to relax his body and mind enough to sleep, letting out a soft sigh. It was clear to the other people in the room that his inner struggle continued.

For the next couple of hours, Kristin left the room, allowing the teenager as much peace and quiet as he needed. Bridger decided to keep a silent vigil of his own over the teenager, still feeling a little overprotective. Laying himself out on the sofa across the room, it wasn't long before he succumbed to his own tiredness and drifted into a light sleep.

Kristin went to the science labs, and although she tried to immerse herself in work, she found her own mind going back to the night at the barn where she had been dancing casually with Nathan and enjoying the company of a small group.

Awoke a little after lunch. His _light sleep _taking the best part of four hours. He was surprised to look over and see that Lucas was still asleep as well. Obviously the teenager was still recovering and needed the rest.

Kristin must have been into the room at least once since her departure. There was now a small pillow underneath Bridger's head and a light throw blanket had been laid over him. He didn't even remember her coming in.

Bridger crept over to the sleeping Lucas and made sure that everything appeared to be all right Before leaving the room in search of Commander Ford. The young man's leg was still elevated Slightly and he didn't appear to have tossed or turned too much in his sleep.

The first person Bridger came across in corridors heading towards the helm of the vessel, was Seaman Tony Piccolo. The man was supposed to be resting his leg as much as possible, but was now quite some distance from the quarters he usually shared with Lucas.

Tony had spotted the Captain and saw the curious looks about what he was doing. He was more concerned about the harsh words that might come his way about startling Lucas earlier that day.

"Captain, I am real sorry about not knocking this morning," he said, trying to get the first word in.

"Well, I wished you would have, if not only for Lucas's sake, but by the looks of it, there was no real harm done," Bridger said in mock sternness. "I must say though, for a man who should be resting his own leg, you are taking an awful risk aren't you?"

"I won't say nothing if you won't," Tony tried to bribe. "I mean it feels great anyway and it doesn't really hurt all that much now…………" running out things to say in his defence.

"Hey, I am not going to say anything, but I wouldn't like to be in your shoes if Kristin finds you," Bridger informed him.

"How is Luke? Tony asked quickly, trying to deflect attention from himself. "I meant what I said to him this morning about listening if he wants to talk."

"He is still asleep for now, but before you hear from anywhere else, he spoke to Kristin and I about wanting to discuss what happened. We asked him if he wanted for you to be present, but he said no. I think he is a little worried about how he is going to feel once the story starts coming out," Bridger explained.

"No problems," Tony responded, already assuming that Lucas would want to talk to Bridger and the doctor before anybody else. They were the people best qualified to help him through it.

The Captain saw this chance encounter with no-one else about as the perfect opportunity to talk to Tony about another subject which he wanted to discuss.

"There is something that I wanted to talk to you about however," Bridger began. "Because of what has happened, I want someone who I can rely on to keep close to Lucas when Kristen and I are not able to. Somehow I don't think he is going to want us watching over his shoulder every ten minutes or so………."

"And you were thinking of asking me?" Tony finished.

"You were the most logical choice, and Lucas trusts you over some of the other crew members. I am sure that the others will be watching out for him too, but I wanted to ask someone personally, especially if he wants to leave the boat for any reason."

"Glad to be able to help out, Captain. Don't worry, I won't let Luke know that he is being watched. I can make sure he is safe."

"Just watch that he doesn't suspect. I don't think any of us want to see his reaction if he knew that people were deliberately trying to look out for him."

"You can count on me, Sir," Tony promised and walked off in the other direction as he heard a female voice approaching and wanted to avoid if it was Kristin Westphalen.

After speaking with Tony, Bridger found Commander Ford on the Bridge once more, despite only having a few hours of rest himself. Nathan mentioned to him and all the other people present that Lucas was improving since this morning. He did not elaborate further.

Drawing Jonathan aside for a few quite words, Bridger brought up the subject of Lucas perhaps wanting to having some time along with him and Kristen later in the day to talk about his ordeal.

Ford assured Nathan that all necessary courtesies would be extended to leaving the area around the Captain's quarters as quiet as possible for the remainder of the day. He also promised that he would hand command over to someone else after a reasonable time frame.

Bridger made sure that his plans didn't involve anything else for the next 12 hours except what Lucas wanted to do. Even if he didn't want to talk.

* * *

Upon returning to his quarters, Nathan was surprised to see Lucas sitting up in bed, Kristen Sitting nearby talking quietly about what she had been doing in the labs that day.

"Hey there, you were still asleep when I left the room," he greeted the teenager, pleased to see him awake and looking a lot better for the rest.

"I didn't know I was so tired," Lucas said with a following.

"You look as if you could use some more," Bridger noted.

"Maybe later, not just now," the teenager replied. "If you have the time, I would like to talk to you and Kristen about what happened."

There was a slight pause, "If you are sure?" Bridger asked gently, wanting to add no pressure at all.

"I have to be honest and say I don't know if it is going to help or not. But once it is out of the way, I can try and focus on something else."

"Where did you want us to talk?" Kristin asked, thinking that the right conditions was just as important as the right people Lucas felt right talking to.

"Here, I guess would be best," Lucas answered, not having given it much thought up until now. The Captain's quarters had always been some sort of sanctuary or haven for him.

"I would like to sit somewhere else from this bed," the teenager slipped into the conversation.

Bridger looked about the room, "The long sofa might be okay over there," he suggested, pointing to a small corner of his quarters. "I can rig up a couple of the pillows underneath your leg," he added, trying to think ahead of what Kristen's practical requirements. He also thought it provided a quieter little corner where they were unlikely to be disturbed.

"Looks all right to me," Lucas voted, and started to pull himself off the bed. Kristin and Bridger gathered up the blankets and pillows and watched as the teenager made slow steps over towards the furniture.

Lucas was a little surprised when Kristin and Bridger decided not to sit right along side of him of him. He didn't mind, but thought it odd due to the over protective natures that they usually displayed. Bridger sat on a single arm chair closest to the teenager and Kristin sat adjacent to him, on a larger, two seater couch.

"I guess this is as good a time as ever to tell you that I don't remember a whole lot," Lucas admitted sheepishly. "Some parts I can see well in my mind, others are only fragments and there are some gaps where I just don't remember what happened to me at all."

"Just go slowly and tell us what you do remember," Kristin encouraged, "Do you remember being at the party that night?" she asked, thinking of the most logical starting point for them all.

"Yeah, I do remember being there. I had too much stuff going on in my head and I was trying to think of everything that had happened that day at the meetings."

"Do you remember seeing anything unusual or out of the ordinary?"

For now, Bridger listened intently to the questions that Kristin asked.

Lucas thought about the question, trying to form a mental picture in his head of what had happened at the party, "Not specifically, but I wasn't really taking any notice. My foot was beginning to ache a lot more and I wasn't feeling the sharpest."

Bridger nodded, recalling that Lucas had admitted that his foot was troubling him that night.

"You both got up to dance, and I was left on my own." The teenager failing to see the guilty looks that Kristen and Bridger exchanged.

"Hey, I do remember something," Lucas said, pleased that his memory hadn't totally failed him. "There was a guy running from the bushes. He tried to…………."

"We all thought he was trying to attack Lonnie," Bridger finished. "After he tried to grab her, we all tried running after him."

"Except me because of my leg. But I did try and follow too. It just took me a lot longer get up, those crutches were so awkward to use."

"We didn't even know at first that you had tried to follow us."

"Well, by the time I got the first tree line, it was so dark that I could barely see where I was going. I didn't know which direction you guys had run in and when I looked back to see where I had come from, the trees all looked the same."

"You got lost," Kristin said, more as a statement than a question.

"Yeah, but I guess at the time, I was more worried about the chewing out I would get from you when someone found me," Lucas said to Kristin, adding a apologetic smile.

"What happened then?" Bridger prompted, knowing that the minutes before finding the abandoned crutches were still a mystery to them all.

Lucas fell silent for a moment, the details still relatively fresh, but knowing it would not be easy for his family to hear.

"That's when I heard someone behind me," the young man said in a much softer voice. "I thought it might have been you or one of the other crew coming back, but it wasn't."

Kristin and Bridger did their best not to interrupt the teenager's train of thought, but know that what happened then had been quite terrifying at the time.

"I heard a noise behind me………. like a stick breaking, but just as I tried to turn around and see what it was, someone grabbed me from behind. I tried to call out for help, but he stuffed a gag in my mouth and placed a hand over it."

Lucas stopped his story, reaching for the glass of water nearby as though remembering how dry his mouth had felt at that exact moment with the gag.

"Oh, it must have been awful for you," Kristin said in alarm, giving the teenager some reassurance that he had every right to feel afraid.

"It must have been right about the time we heard your cry for help," Bridger told him. "That is when we realized that you were not anywhere about. We tried calling out your name, but you must not have heard us." The guilt he had felt that night about leaving Lucas unprotected had already begun to multiply.

"Yeah, well," Lucas continued, his hands drifting to the blankets covering him and beginning to play with the edging to keep his emotions in check. "The next thing I know is that he was dragging me through the bushes and shoving me on the ground behind some trees."

"Must have been quite an effort for him," Bridger said, trying to elevate the boy's self confidence that he had done all he could to free himself.

"Not really, by that time there was two of them," Lucas stated matter-of-factly."

Kristin felt her mouth fall upon at this piece of information, but could not find the words to respond.

Unfortunately, the next few sentences only allowed their suffering of hearing such details to continue. Lucas was doing his best to keep his emotions separate, but his hands involuntarily began rubbing at one shoulder where he had been held down forcibly by his captors.

"I heard you calling out to me," the teenager said softly to Bridger, "but they kept me down on the ground and I could barely breath with the gag and the hand over my mouth."

Unconsciously, Bridger found himself moving from the single armchair to now sitting Beside the teenager and putting a comforting arm around him. One that the Captain noted was willingly accepted by the teenager.

Lucas hadn't crumbled completely, to his credit, but Kristin was mindful of his injuries and kept a close eye on his demeanor whilst they talked.

Finding a little more to his voice, Lucas gathered his thoughts together and kept telling the events that he remembered.

"After a while, not sure how much time went by, they pulled me to my feet, and started to drag me away from the trees. We must have been near some sort of road way, because all of a sudden there was a car, and a third guy."

"Could you describe any of them?"

"No, not really. I heard voices, and I saw them briefly, but apart from that, everything is still hazy."

Lucas paused for a couple of minutes, not saying anything. Kristin asked if he was too tired to continue, but he shook his head negatively, telling her that he was still all right.

"Well I tried to stop them from putting me into the car at first. I struggled as much as I could, but one of the guys was huge. I must have made him a little angry because the next thing I saw was stars………….", leaving the sentenced unfinished, but assuming that their imaginations would be able to fill in the blanks.

"I woke up some time again later, with my hands tied together," the teenager continued, confirming that he must have been knocked unconscious for some period of time in the car.

"They were driving somewhere, but I don't can't recall any of the scenery to tell you where. They stopped the car along a road, but there was no other cars that I could see. I tried to look out the window, but the big guy got angry at me again and shoved me back down onto the floor, and stuck his boots on me."

Bridger tried to get as many details as he could from the vague clues Lucas was giving about his captors. The teenager had referred to one of them being large a couple of times, but it wasn't much to go on. He wanted to do some stomping of his own on these men for what they had done to Lucas.

"Did they drive somewhere else from there?"

"No, we didn't drive in the car again that I know of. One of the guys got out and was cursing loudly at the driver about not being able to get anything right. They shouted at each other for a few minutes."

"The next thing I remember is being dragged from the floor and made to stand up outside the car. My foot was killing me and my leg wouldn't support my weight enough. I wanted to tell them that I didn't think I could walk anywhere, but I don't think it would have made any difference."

Kristin found herself balling her hands into fists, hidden out of side of the teenager, her own anger at such callous and cruel treatment was growing to new heights.

"They pushed me down this hill. My foot………. was hurting…….. badly," not knowing how to describe the pain that he had experienced. His face said it all, his colour paling a little at the memory. "They didn't care………. didn't even give me a second glance."

Lucas leaned his head against Bridger's shoulder, most of his energy spent and the memory of the pain and the helplessness that he had felt, very draining and exhausting for him.

Bridger looked at Kristin, thinking along the same lines as her that the boy had enough for now, and they could continue at another time, when Lucas was feeling more refreshed.

But Lucas spoke first, "I am sorry, but that is most of what I remember," he spoke softly. "The big guy tried to get me to take some pills. Told me they would help with the pain. When I refused, he shoved them down my throat, without any water."

"I must have passed out, because I don't remember much at all after that. Snippets of feeling pain, but nothing else specifically until I woke up here on SeaQuest."

"How did you find me?" the teenager now asked, feeling the worst was now over. Lucas looked at them, expecting them to tell him what had happened afterwards.

Kristin gave a slight nod to signal that she trusted he would find the right words to say. Despite his obvious tiredness, neither of them had the heart not to tell him something.

"You can thank Tony for that later," Bridger said with a genuine smile. "At first we didn't know where you were," he added leaving out the details of the tape that had been received as part of the ransom demand.

"We eventually found a series of caves where they had hidden you, and one of the men must have had some food when they took you, because there was part of a recent newspaper laying on the ground in front of one of the entrances. That's when we started searching that one, and found you."

Bridger realized that he had left out large parts, including the way they had found him bound hand and foot, and the treatment that the captors had left him in on the tape. None of that seemed relevant at the moment, and he didn't see any point in rehashing bad memories unless Lucas persisted down that line of questioning.

Lucas was still leaning back against Bridger's shoulder and appeared to be losing the battle towards sleep. They were unclear if he had even heard the last part of how they had found him.

"Thanks for coming and getting me," came the whispered thanks, though the teenager didn't open his eyes. A few more moments of silence in the room, and he drifted off, much to the relief of the Captain and the doctor.

"Could not have done anything less, kiddo," Bridger whispered back gently, his voice barely audible.

Kristen helped Bridger removed himself from the chair, allowing the teenager's body to lay down properly. He was covered warmly with the blanks and left to his rest.

Walking over towards the doorway, both adults talked quietly to each other, "Do you think it will help him? Bridger asked.

"I think only time will tell. Even though they were difficult for him to recall, I think he was looking for reassurance that he could not have done anything different to change what happened," Kristin surmised.

* * *

Over the next two days, things began to come back to normal for those aboard SeaQuest. Lucas was recovering nicely and had begun feeling a little cramped under the constant vigilance of the doctor and the Captain, but recognized it for what it was and tried his best see it from their point of view.

His foot wasn't troubling him so much at the moment, and the cast was working well to keep even pressure on the foot while the bones healed. It did ache first thing in the morning or if he spend too long standing up without a break, but he had begun to distinguish the signs and towards the second day, was able to manage some sort of independence without feeling too much pain.

After he had his talk with Bridger and Kristin, he had woken up, feeling a little drained, but better for it. He didn't remember when exactly he had falling asleep, but had been grateful that he had been at least able to come to terms with his abduction.

He had even managed to pull Commander Ford aside briefly and thank him for his roll in the rescue. Of course the Commander had told him that it wasn't necessary to thank him, but was glad he was back with them.

Lucas had spent a couple of hours talking to Tony as well, and felt a little bit of guilt creep in when he learned about the injury to his leg. The bruise was still fairly fresh, and the teenager had gasped out loud at the discolouration that was present. Piccolo had assured him that it didn't hurt now and hadn't at the time, but the bruise was enough not to believe him.

The one question that the teenager had not asked, nor did the others bring up, was about the captors themselves. Lucas had not asked directly if the men responsible had been caught, but perhaps he didn't want to believe that they were still out there, capable of trying again.

Kristin had briefly touched the subject of their appearance and if Lucas might be able to describe them, but so far he had been unable to provide any identifiable features or characteristics.

Despite the best efforts of the crew, Lucas was aware of the watchful eyes as he walked slowly about the corridors. He knew that they all meant well, and had almost laughed out loud in the mess hall when Tim and Miguel had almost fell on top of each other trying to sit at the table with Lucas. Probably making a report to make it back to Kristin about how much and what he had eaten.

Tony wasn't quite so obvious about his checking up, but Lucas knew it was there. Dagwood on the other hand, did not try and hide that he was watching out for the boy. But Lucas loath to deter the man who seemed genuinely pleased to be helping protect the boy.

Right now, Lucas was leaning against the tube of Darwin's tank that ran through the room he and Tony shared. He had been there about an hour now, on the bottom bunk, so it was less likely that his current whereabouts would be discovered if someone opened the door.

He wasn't deliberately trying to hide, but the peace and quiet and time to think to himself was something he had not been able to enjoy for a week or two. Once subject was on his mind at the moment.

Something he intended to tell the Captain and the others at dinner tonight. He had already predicted their reaction, but he was determined and hoped they would see things from his perspective and support him rather than begin to worry all over again.

Later that same day, Lucas found himself on the Bridge, his mind still pretty much on the topic of conversation that he intended to bring up when he had dinner shortly. The Captain was there too, and was beginning to notice his lack of concentration and general quiet persona.

Tim O'Neill was the one to interrupt, "Ahem, Lucas, I have a call coming in for you," he stated. "Says he is Mr Collins," he added a little louder, so that Bridger over heard as well.

Lucas saw the look on Bridger's face and the direct look from O'Neill to the Captain, but wasn't sure how to take it. It felt a little like they were keeping something from him, but he didn't want jump to conclusions.

"Thanks, Tim," Lucas answered, taking the head piece from the Communications Officer, "Hello, Mr Collins?" he asked, making sure of who he was talking to.

O'Neill and the Captain could hear little bits of static chatter, but not the ensuing conversation itself.

"No, Mr Collins, I am afraid I didn't know that you had called earlier," Lucas said, looking at Bridger questioningly. Bridger nodded his head in silent agreement.

"Well as a matter of fact, Mr Collins, I have been thinking about our discussions, just today in fact. I would like to give it some more thought before I give you a definite answer."

Lucas smiled a little at the surprised looks that he got in reply to that statement from the people in the room.

Bridger was seen to let go of the breath he was holding at what the teenager was saying.

"Yes, I will talk to you some more tomorrow," Lucas said. "Thank you for the concern, I am feeling much better now," he added, wondering a little about how much the man knew about his kidnapping and injuries.

Lucas terminated the transmission, handing the headset back to O'Neill. Bridger eased any fears he might have had, "I didn't tell him anything about you going missing or being kidnapped. I told him you were still experiencing some pain in your leg."

"Thanks. I was worried there for a minute."

"Want to go and get dinner?" Bridger asked, trying not to dwell on the call from Collins.

"Yes, I have something to talk to you about anyway," Lucas admitted.

The two of them left the Bridge together, headed for the galley. Kristin was already there, with Tony, which suited Lucas fine. All the right people to talk to in one place so hopefully he wouldn't need to repeat himself.

* * *

An hour later, and after some food, Lucas headed back to his room, feeling as though a little weight had been lifted off his shoulders. They had taken his piece of news about continuing to work on the micro chip project rather well. Much better than he had anticipated.

He had started off by telling them about the way he had thought that day about what to do, considering everything that had happened. He also talked a little about how the last two companies he had talked to had been greedy for the power of his micro chip and the technology that went with it, rather than for the benefit that could be gained.

Greed and power were the two biggest characteristics that had driven him away from his father Lawrence Wolenczak, and why he appreciated someone like Bridger all the more. He couldn't have gone to either of those companies knowing what they would eventually do with a project that he had sweat blood and tears for.

He knew of their concerns about his safety over this project and the danger he had been placed into in the past week. But the determination and passion that they could hear in his voice, swayed them towards the support that he was hoping to gain.

In the end they agreed with him, that he didn't deserve to be punished for the actions of others. To miss out on a fabulous opportunity that might cement his future and allow his talents to be recognized separate from the SeaQuest. Lucas had been craving such attention nearly all his life. The chance to let his skills and abilities to be judged for themselves and not governed by his age or how others saw him.

Lucas confirmed that he was going to accept Mr Collins offer to work with his company. He had been the only one to accept Lucas for who he was, despite the chip. The man had not questioned his abilities due to his age, nor use condescending attitude towards him at the meeting.

When he had walked out of the office that day, Lucas had been fairly confident then, that Collins Industries would help make his dream a reality without having to sacrifice it for money and power. Although they were certainly offering a pretty handsome purse themselves.

The next day, Mr Collins was so elated to get the call from Lucas, he just about burst a blood vessel. The man was gushing with all sorts of praise and accolades. He wanted to hold press conferences and parties and meet people seminars.

Lucas kept his head on though and didn't want to do everything so quickly. He didn't want a fuss made at all, but in the end, he had wavered a little and consented to a small gathering of just the SeaQuest crew and Collins himself to celebrate the beginning of a new venture.

The SeaQuest crew were certainly happy for their teenage friend and hoped that he had all the success. They knew that the boy wouldn't be wooed away from the boat too easily, with Bridger and Kristin being his family now.

Lucas had set himself the task of concentrating on the microchip. He had relented to Kristin's stern warnings about taking care of himself and not over using his healing leg. But for the most part, the crew allowed him to work quietly and undisturbed as he requested.

He assured all of them that they would be among to see the experimental tests that would be carried out on the chip.

Little did any of them know that the party that Collins had been organizing was not the small gathering that Lucas had been wanting. His over zealous nature got the better of him, and before he knew it, the guest list was written, with some very high profile people on it.

The venue would be a very stylish hotel in the middle of the city that catered to such grand events. The catering would be taken care of by only the best chefs and of course, there was music, entertainment and a fully stocked bar.

Collins made one fatal error with his party plans however, and instead of keeping the nature of the celebration to himself, thought he was doing the right thing in inviting some of the competitors that had been in competition for the young man's invention.

These competitors were people like Sykes and his two side kicks, Frank and Riley, who had been waiting to hear the slightest whisper about the young man's whereabouts since his unfortunate rescue and escape from the caves.

The SeaQuest didn't think that a large scale security force would be needed, upon hearing the details of the small gathering that Lucas saw himself celebrating with. With the crew there, the teenager would be well protected enough and nothing was expected to happen.

To be continued (very soon)………………. The Finale (and some don't play nice together or plan to go down without a fight).


	11. DEAL OR NO DEAL

**THE SECRET DEVICE**

**By JULES6**

**This story takes place in the second series with the exception of Kristen Westphalen. **

**The scenes of this story come from a lot of different places, some SeaQuest, others not. Some you will recognize – others you won't. Just a mix up of things and people really.**

**Enjoy.**

**CHAPTER ELEVEN – ****DEAL OR NO DEAL**

Lucas played with the collar on his shirt for the umpteenth time within a few minutes. The image in the mirror didn't alter though and it still looked lopsided to him.

He was wearing a white shirt with a pair of black trousers. Casual but neat attire. It would have to do as it was the only set of clothes he owned that didn't involve a pair of jeans and a baseball shirt.

It didn't feel like it was him at all, and part of him was asking himself why he felt he had to dress this way if he wasn't comfortable. His train of thoughts were interrupted when there was a knock ….

"Are you nervous about tonight?" Bridger asked from the doorway, quickly looking over the clothes the teenager had chosen.

Lucas could see the Captain through the mirror, but didn't answer straight away. Thinking a little about the correct response:

"Not nervous exactly," Lucas voiced. "Unprepared or out of place."

"Well, I guess that is perfectly normal given what this is all for. But don't worry, everything should go smoothly and by Monday both you and Mr Collins will be very happy business partners," Bridger commented.

So why did Lucas have this nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach. He had been honest with Bridger, it wasn't nervousness, but it was an overwhelming sense of excitement either. Unease was probably the best description he could offer right at this moment.

"Do I hear the sound of nervousness in this room?" Kristen quipped, dressed in a royal blue dress that accentuated the redness of her hair.

"You look great, Kristen," Lucas commented, roughly dragged a comb through his blond hair. In the end he gave up.

Tonight was all about trying to be himself and having the scientific community admire his achievements without ridiculing his youth or unorthodox approach.

"You didn't scrub up too badly yourself," Kristen remarked, trying to boost his confidence.

She too was pleased that tonight's affair would be a small one, and allow the teenager to relax. After everything that had happened in the past few weeks, Lucas certainly deserved a night without worry or stress. It would be good to see a genuine smile on his face.

"Ready to go?" Bridger asked, glancing at his watch. It was almost 7pm and it would take a good twenty minutes to arrive at the small restaurant that Collins had organized for their small celebration.

"Let's get going, because I am starving," Lucas said with a smirk, knowing that admitting such a thing was unusual.

When they got to the docking bay, ready to take the launch upworld, Lucas was surprised to see Chief Shan and Crocker ready to go along too.

"Hey Luke, about time you showed up, I thought I was going to have to show up at this shindig and give all your acceptance speeches myself," Piccolo joked.

"My acceptance speech, Tony?"

"Yeah, you know the one where you tell them I am your PR manager and that I get 50 percent of all the perks and royalties."

"50 percent," Lucas scoffed in jest.

"Don't take all the credit for yourself will you now, Piccolo," Ford commented.

"Hey, the kid is going places and is going to need somebody, a close personal friend to show him the ropes."

"The only place you are going in a minute is back to your cabin, Tony," Lucas warned. "Its friends like you that see me getting into trouble when I don't need it."

"Oh now that hurts, Wolenczak," Piccolo remarked, "After everything that I have done for you."

"What have you done for me lately again?" Lucas was quick to point out.

"I will tell you. Follow me around for the past week like I was some lost puppy."

"Hey, I was only doing that as a friend," Tony said truthfully. "Ask Dagwood."

"Tony tell Dagwood that we need to keep following you in case bad people come back and try to hurt Lucas," the G.E.L.F. offered in his child-like voice.

"Captain Bridger tell Tony and Dagwood to do it," Dagwood continued.

"Oh did he now," Lucas said in mock surprise, whirling around to face Bridger who now had a '_caught in the act'_ look on his face. But the teenager had already suspected a week ago that everyone's vigil was at the Captain's request.

The other crew members had to chuckle at Bridger's awkwardness, knowing it was rare to see Nathan on the back foot.

At least now Lucas understood why Shan and Crocker were being brought along. He guessed that the Captain and Kristin were still more than a little anxious over him being kidnapped and wanted to make sure he was safe tonight.

"Come on then, by the time we all get there, it will be half over," Lucas said, giving them all a genuine smile in appreciation of their concern. Even if it did feel like they were too close at times over the past week, he knew the reasons why they wanted to be overprotective tonight.

"Lucas, does my tie look straight?" Dagwood asked his teenage friend.

The man was wearing a simple white shirt and a shoe string tie that Tony had leant him, but it was important to him that he was looking his best for Lucas's big night.

"You look great, Dag," Lucas commented, the G.E.L.F.'s smile obvious at the teenager's simple praise.

"Why are you dressed like that anyway, Tony?" Lucas asked, noting the t-shirt and jeans. The shirt was black and the front was supposed to represent the front of a tuxedo.

"Captain said we should put on our best clothes. I didn't have a tux, and had to make do," Piccolo replied plainly.

All of the other crew members going had put on neat and dressy clothes on. Somehow, although it wouldn't have suited most of them, Tony was dressed exactly as they expected.

"You look fine, Tony," Lucas said to quell any fears that he had. "Promise me you will never change," he added with a laugh, knowing that it was Piccolo's honest personality that made them such great friends.

"The word change doesn't exist in the Piccolo dictionary. You can't improve on perfection."

The group climbed into the launch and pulled away from SeaQuest, ready to celebrate with Lucas, even if they didn't agree with Tony's sense of style.

* * *

At the fancy hotel where Collins had booked the venue for the night, it was approximately 6.30pm and a few of the invited guests had started to arrive.

The building was ten storey high and the event itself was being held on the ground floor in an opulent ballroom. The night would be catered with fine chefs and an endless stream of waiters would circulate the room, offering guests finger food and fine wines.

Each table had been elegantly set and there was a large floor space in the centre of the room. In front of that was the podium where Collins planned to introduce the company's newest partner.

To the right of the stage there was a large set of stained doors that led out on to a expansive balcony. There were some tables and chairs just outside the doors, but then only a cobbled stone floor and an elaborate railing where one could get a great look out over the city.

Collins had invited the investors to the new joint venture, but had neglected to tell Lucas of his intentions. The small get to together that the teenager had been promised had turned into a five star event that would last throughout the night.

One of the first people to arrive before the other guests was Bill Sykes. Collins greeted him as he came through the door, not knowing the man's full intentions of the night.

"Bill, good to see you," Collins said, his manner over-exuberant and off putting.

"Tom," Sykes said with a fake smile. "So where have you been keeping the guest of honour?" he asked. He didn't want to do anything to do with this whole set up, but it was going to be the best and only opportunity to get his hands on the kid again.

"Lucas should have been here by now, Bill, I am not sure what is keeping him," Collins said, nervously looking towards the front doors. "But I guarantee you that it is worth the wait," he added with pride, knowing how much of a lucrative deal his company was about to make.

"I have heard some reports about it," Sykes lied, inwardly scowling that he had to play up to this man just to get the information he needed on the young inventor.

"Oh Mr Tezaku," Collins called out, ignoring Sykes as he hurried to greet one of the high profile investors.

"You are not getting your hands on that chip," Sykes whispered under his breath as he watch Collins make a fool of himself in front of the little oriental man that arrived with a group of people.

Sykes walked through the ballroom, taking note of the layout and where everything would be. He didn't want to leave anything to chance, and knew that he had to have a plan A and if necessary a plan B if this was going to work in his favour at all.

* * *

On his way past the doors, Sykes made sure that nobody was taking particular notice of his movements, and then proceeded to sneak through a doorway that was labeled _**"Waiters Room".**_

This small room was partitioned off from the rest of the main ballroom and served as a bathroom and changing room for the serving waiters and staff from the kitchens.

There was a second set of bathrooms more richly decorated that were meant for guests and visitors.

Sykes looked under the three stalls for any signs of shoes or someone being in there before he locked the door on the inside, preventing anybody from entering whilst he talked to the two men that were waiting for him.

"You sure no one saw you come in?" he asked Riley and Frank. The two men who had been responsible for kidnapping Lucas, were dressed in white waiters suits.

"We are sure, Boss," Riley assured him.

Sykes wasn't totally convinced that using these two blockheads was the best solution, but he needed to have the extra pair of hands in case things didn't go as he hoped.

"Look, we don't have much time before the kid shows up, but I want to make sure you two don't mess things up again like the last time," Sykes began to talk.

"I want you in the kitchens as much as possible until I give you the signal and then you make a grab for him. Remember he will be able to recognize you if he sees you and the whole plan will be blown wide open."

"There is a car waiting outside if we need it, but it is probably going to be quicker to take him upstairs and keep him quiet up there until the heat settles down."

"What do you want us to use on him when we snatch the kid?" Riley asked. "You know that he is going to holler once it all starts happening."

"I have some of that snake juice upstairs in the suite, but I don't want to use it unless I have to. I want to be able to get where the chip is out of him as soon as possible. I can't do that if we have to knock him out," Sykes explained.

"If it comes to using that, then we will use the car and wait until we get far enough away from here, but don't unless we have to. For now I am going to give you this," he said, holding out a small black device.

"A tazer?" Frank said, looking at it dubiously. "I thought you wanted him conscious?"

"I do, but if we can get him on is own like I want to, we might be able to use it as a threat and keep him quiet until you force him up to the suite. You don't have to press the trigger unless it becomes necessary. I am sure he will get the message soon enough."

"This isn't going to be easy with all of these people in the room and the SeaQuest people watching him like a hawk too," Riley pointed out.

"No, but if you follow the plan like I told you, there shouldn't be any hassles and we should be able to grab him before anybody has a chance to stop us," Sykes said, sounding confident.

"Hey, why is this door locked?" came a voice from the other side.

"Quick, lets break this up," Sykes said, disappearing into one of the stalls until the coast was clear.

Riley opened the door and was greeted by the Head Chef.

"What are you two doing in here?" the man demanded to know. "We have important guests beginning to arrive and you two are in here goofing off. Get back to the kitchens and get cracking or you will be out on your ear."

Frank wanted to say something, but Riley grabbed his arm and forced him to do as they were told, knowing that Sykes didn't want then to draw any attention to themselves. "Yes, Sir, sorry we were just having a small break."

The Head Chef watched the pair leave the bathroom, unconvinced with their story, but putting them down as the usual lay about waiters that the restaurant were used to getting on a regular basis. For the moment he didn't suspect that they were anything else but that.

* * *

_**Back at the pier:**_

Everybody was waiting for the limousine that Collins had told them that would be picking them up from the launch and bringing them to the reception.

The crew apart from Lucas consisted of Bridger and Kristin, Jonathan Ford, Jim Brody, Lonnie Anderson, Tony Piccolo, Miguel Ortiz, Tim O'Neill and Dagwood. Security Officers Shan and Crocker were also present at the Captain's personal request.

Once seated inside the limousine, Lucas's mood changed a little and he became a little too quiet for someone who was about to receive so much praise and be on the verge of signing a deal worth millions.

"Okay there, Luke?" Tony was the first to voice his concerns out loud.

"Yeah, sure, why wouldn't I be?" Lucas said, still looking out the window rather than facing his friend as he spoke.

"Oh, I don't know, you got that whole _"New guy without a drink at my cousin Ira's party" _look about you.

Bridger rolled his eyes a little at Piccolo's choice of words. Yes it was true that Lucas was acting a little more withdrawn tonight than he had yesterday, but did he have to say it out loud like that? Subtly was not one of Tony's strongest traits.

Kristin decided to try a different approach, placing her hand on his shoulder to gain his attention first, "I know you are going to have a great time tonight, but remember, I don't want you standing on that leg of yours all night."

"If you start getting tired, you can just let us know. You have only just gotten back on your feet," Bridger added.

"Don't worry, I will look after myself," Lucas promised them both with a smile, but quickly resumed looking out the window.

"Its only a small thing anyway, we shouldn't be here more than an hour," Lucas predicted.

The smile quickly faded again and this didn't go unnoticed by the crew as they exchanged concerned glances with each other and the Captain. Something was definitely on his mind.

Before any of them could ask another question, the limousine was pulling up outside the fancy hotel. Lucas looked puzzled at first, but as the door was opened by the valet, stepped out onto the sidewalk.

"Good evening, Mr Wolenczak and guests," the footman greeted them, tipping his top hat to the ladies as they exited the car.

"What are we stopping here for?" he asked confused, not for one moment contemplating that the "small celebration" would be held somewhere as big as this hotel.

The valet looked puzzled, "I am not sure what you mean, Mr Wolenczak, I was instructed by Mr Collins that you would be arriving here this evening with the rest of your party?"

"Uh oh, don't look now, but I think we are about to have a communication problem, Houston," Tony remarked casually and quietly to Lonnie.

"Collins is having it here!" the teenager exclaimed, "And the name is Lucas."

"What does he mean Collins is having it here, Lucas? Ford asked.

As almost on cue and before the teenager got a chance to reply, Mr Collins came scurrying out to meet them from the elegant brass doors.

"Lucas, Lucas my boy, good to see you here," he said, wiping his brow in relief.

"The limousine was to your liking I hope?" he asked in anticipation, standing up close to the teenager. "Your clothes...," he began to say, looking down with a little frown.

"Don't worry, your clothes look fine," he said too enthusiastically, putting his arm around Lucas's shoulder as though he was a long lost friend.

Lucas couldn't understand the man's change in demeanor from a week ago. The man wasn't unpleasant, if anything totally the opposite, almost spilling over and gushing with compliments.

The whole new mannerism seemed a bit over the top for the teenager, and it clearly showed on his face that he didn't like it so up close and personal.

"This isn't anything like what we talked about Mr Collins," Lucas said, removing the man's arm from around his shoulder.

"Oh, don't worry Lucas, I am sure you will do just fine with all of the people inside, once you meet them all," Collins said, virtually thrusting the boy forwards up the small set of stairs to the main doors of the hotel.

"What do you mean "_all the other people"_?" he questioned, as he found himself in the enormous foyer and staring up at the extravagant fittings and furnishings.

* * *

The SeaQuest crew were as unhappy about this as Lucas, but they had yet voice their own opinions on the matter to Collins. Lucas didn't lose his temper very often, but the scowl on the boy's face at this moment, made them think that he might do exactly that.

Bridger whispered for the others to follow and that they would talk more once inside.

Whatever words Lucas was going to say fell away for a second as he got lost in the richness of the foyer and the grandeur that was before him. They were not even all the way into the ballroom yet and he could see a large gathering of people.

"Looks just like a place where my Uncle Benny would feel right at home," Tony whistled as he too look at the grand setting they found themselves in.

"Your Uncle Benny, Piccolo," Miguel said with a raised eyebrow, just knowing that there was more to the story.

"Yeah, he liked to make a living in this kind of place, right before they sent him away," Tony replied.

"Sent him where?" O'Neill asked, knowing that he would somehow regret the answer.

"To maximum security. He got caught locked in a hotel bathroom after swiping a few items from a place as rich looking as this," Piccolo explained. "Cops reckon they found him in a compromising situation with one of the guests."

"They put him in maximum security because he stole a few items from a hotel room?" Ford said, knowing that somehow they always got sucked into Tony's family stories such as this one.

"Oh no, the Judge was going to let him off lightly and be able to have visitors until Aunt Pam found about the "compromising situation" part. Right after that, he requested a transfer to somewhere more secure."

Some of the crew members gave a half hearted laugh, but quickly turned their attention back to the current situation.

"Come on then Lucas, lets not keep them waiting," Collins said, giving the teenager a gentle push from behind. But it was not as well received as he intended, with the toe of Lucas's leg being caught up on the edge of a large rug that they were standing partially on, jarring his injured foot.

He momentarily lost his balance and turned a shade redder at almost falling flat on his face in front of everyone. Clearly embarrassed, he was awkwardly able to regain his balance, but not before having to reach down and rub at the flexible cast.

Lucas gave a gasp of pain as he was pulled up suddenly and had to clench his teeth to stop from announcing how much the sudden change in direction had hurt. Back on the SeaQuest they didn't have plush carpet or rugs to have to worry about tripping over.

His leg had been healing well over the past week, and Kristin had been impressed with the progress, but little incidents like what just happened would see him might just risk him having to endure it longer.

A thought that Lucas was none to happy about.

"Oh, I am sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you," Collins said apologetically, but his attention was clearly distracted by the group of people that were gathered towards the ballroom.

Bridger had been ready to step forward after seeing Lucas almost trip and hearing his grimace of pain as the boy was about to say something to Collins. But before he could, the teenager took the man by the front of his suit and dragged him a couple of steps out of hearing range.

At first the man was surprised at the young man's deliberate action, but was shocked to see the displeased expression that now faced him, "Mr Collins, I thought we agreed on a "small" celebration?"

"We did Lucas, but now that we have you going to sign on board with us Monday, we have to wine and dine the investors for this project," Collins tried to explain.

"When I spoke to you a week ago, '_we'_ agreed that I would be behind the design and development of the chip. You would be taking care of things such as investors," Lucas challenged.

"And I will be doing just that tonight, Lucas. But I thought it would be fun…….," Collins began proudly before he was interrupted again.

"You thought wrong, Mr Collins," Lucas interjected. "This isn't me. I don't like coming to things like this. Not to mention that I thought you would have at least discussed it with me first."

"Clearly this isn't the agreement that I thought we were making," Lucas said, beginning to make his intentions very clear to the man.

"Lucas, I promise you that this will go off without a hitch. Just give me some time to prove to you that this is in the best interests of the project as a whole," Collins pleaded.

The crew couldn't hear all of what was being said, but now saw the teenager use his index finger to get his point across.

"You have one hour to convince me, Mr Collins, no more," Lucas warned.

He had made it abundantly clear that he was less than pleased with being there, but he didn't think he could just walk out in front of everyone now, including his friends and family.

What would they think of him if he didn't give the whole idea at least a chance?

* * *

Whilst Lucas was having his _discussion _with Collins, Bridger and the rest of the SeaQuest crew had made a small gathering of their own, concerned about what a change in venue would mean for the security arrangements that they had made between themselves.

"Do you think we are going to be able to cover such a large room as that ballroom successfully, Captain?" Brody asked in a quiet voice.

"This wasn't suppose to happen, Brody. Collins promised a small gathering, where we should have had to worry about being so vigilant for Lucas," Bridger answered.

"But with everything that has happened, we think it is wise to be on our toes," Kristin added into the conversation.

"I believe with Shan and Crocker on our team Captain that we will be able to manage. But I won't deny that it may be difficult for us to keep an eye on Lucas the entire time," Ford added.

"We will probably be all sitting at the same table, Commander?" Bridger commented, trusting that Ford together with the security officers would have already decided upon a contingency plan. "But I think we need to keep mingling in with the other guests at regular intervals as well."

"Look, please remember that this is a night for Lucas, and I don't want us getting in the way of ruining that for him. I want him to have a good time," Bridger reminded them.

"Captain, I am sorry, but this isn't what was planned," Lucas said as he walked over to the group, unaware of what they had just spoken about.

The teenager was still watching Collins as he walked over towards the ballroom and greeted three men standing together with a hearty handshake.

"Don't worry about us, Lucas, you do what comes naturally. Just be yourself," Bridger encouraged.

"Yeah, well I have given him 1 hour to get this over with and then I am out of here and back to the boat," Lucas informed them. "And at the moment I make it 59 nine minutes and 45 seconds," he emphasized.

"Lucas, come on over and meet someone………," Collins called out to the young man. The teenager began walking at a slow pace towards the men, the reluctance even obvious in his posture.

"58 eight minutes," he said without look back to his friends and family.

"Gee, Lucas feels like he is heading off to his execution rather than selling his chip for a million bucks," Tony commented casually.

"Lucas does not look very happy," Dagwood said simply.

"No, he doesn't sound very happy either, Dag," Bridger agreed.

* * *

Approximately half an hour after walking into the ballroom, the SeaQuest crew found themselves sitting at the table assigned to them. It was set back from the stage, but in front so they would be able to see and hear any speeches without any trouble.

Bridger and Kristin had tried to keep track of where Lucas was for most of the night, but as Nathan found himself introduced to a number of the guests, he found them increasingly interested in his Captaincy aboard SeaQuest.

Dagwood sat closest to Tony, and then the rest of the crew in no specific order around the table. The meal served was sumptuous and the quality very high. They were all very pleased with the menu that had been offered.

They were a little disappointed that Lucas had not had much of a chance to sit with them and enjoy a meal so far. He had been seated at a number of different tables, shaking their hands and listening politely to any ongoing conversation.

It was clear at some points that the teenager was growing bored and frustrated with the conversation not being to his taste at all. All of these investors were twenty or more years old of him, and none of them shared his interest in computer technology.

So why exactly were they interested in shedding money on his project he had to ask himself? What was in it for them?

"Man, I haven't had a meal like that since I was a kid," Tony remarked as he leaned back in his chair and waited for the food to settle.

"Your kidding right, Piccolo. You haven't had food like this ever!" Ortiz prodded, thinking that Tony was exaggerating his lifestyle before SeaQuest once more.

"Hey Ortiz, my Ma was one of the best cooks around. She could make almost anything out of a can of spaghetti and a loaf of bread. Even stuffed lobster with garlic butter."

"I am going for a walk, Dag," Tony suggested. "Lucas looks a little lonely over there," he added.

The crew turned and saw exactly that, Lucas standing near the bar, on his own, with looked like a coke in his hand. Collins was somewhere else across the room, talking up a storm.

"Dagwood coming with you."

"Hey, Luke, all silver clouds in the land of computers?" Tony said, trying to think of something clever to bring the teenager out of his darkening mood.

"As a matter of fact, no!" Lucas said curtly. "Sorry, I didn't sound ungrateful or anything," he said after seeing the look on the faces of his friends.

"I don't blame you. If this is supposed to be a celebration, man I have seen more action at a nunnery and monastery convention," Tony joked. "I haven't seen so many stiffs in one room except for Morton's Funeral home when they buried Uncle Louie."

Lucas smirked over the top of his glass as the comment, knowing that Piccolo was trying to help.

"Still counting the minutes?" Piccolo enquired, the conversation quickly drying up between the two friends. Dagwood stood with them but had yet to say anything.

"27 minutes and 36 seconds," Lucas said, looking at his watch. "Dagwood, hold this for me would you, all this caffeine is beginning to affect me," he said excusing himself and using the explanation to head off to the men's room. If the truth be known he just needed some breathing space for a moment.

Tony walked back to the SeaQuest table, Dagwood following, still holding onto Lucas's coke. "He is full of enthusiasm tonight, Captain."

"So I noticed," Bridger replied. They had all observed the boy's body language from across the room.

* * *

Lucas entered the men's room and ran the cold water in the sink for a few minutes, before splashing his face and using the fluffy hand towels provided.

"What exactly are you doing here?" he asked, chastising himself as he looked at his own reflection in the mirror and questioning everything that had happened since they arrived.

He had let Collins dictate the flow of events pretty much, despite his verbal protest about the change of the rules half way through the game. Collins had introduced him to all of these people he barely knew and told him everything would work out fine.

If was all supposed to be so right, according to him, then why didn't he feel it?

Briefly he disappeared into one of the stalls, wanting to gather his thoughts before facing the crowds again. Just as he locked the door, three men entered the bathroom.

He couldn't recognize them from their voices, but it was soon evident that they were talking about what had been discussed about his project.

"So, do you think that Collins is on the up and up with this new chip he is talking about?" one of the man asked as the three of them stood at the urinals.

"I don't know. Did you get a look at how young that kid is? Looks like he should still be playing video games or something," one of the other men answered.

"Collins hasn't steered us wrong before, but I am not about to put all of money on a kid fresh out of high school. We haven't even seen the technology yet. Just been told that it is still being developed," the third man responded.

"If I do decide to invest in this project, I want assurances from Collins that he is going to have his best team go over this chip with a fine tooth comb before putting it to any use. As you said, I am not willing to trust all of that money with a kid who should be riding his bike around the street and having his mother tuck him in at night," the first man added.

"Genius doesn't cut it for me either," the third man said as he walked over to the sink to wash his hands. "The costing of this project is astronomical if Collins wants to leave it in the hands of a kid. I say buy it off him for peanuts and then let someone who knows what they are doing work with it. Leaves no strings attached that way and leaves the kid with some pocket money until he gets a summer job."

"Yeah, I agree. Everybody walks away happy then," was the last comment as the three of them exited the rest rooms.

When the coast was clear, Lucas allowed the unlocked door to swing open slowly, scarcely able to fathom what he had just heard. He couldn't even find the right words at the moment to describe how he felt.

A few minutes later, he left the men's room, headed back to the bar for a drink. He passed by the SeaQuest table briefly, not having the courage to look at them at the moment for them to see his disappointment and hurt.

* * *

Doctor Westphalen didn't need a medical degree to notice that something wasn't quite right with the teenager.

Kristin was about to go over to the teenager and get some more answers was before she could, Collins interrupted yet again………

"Lucas, come on over here and meet…….," he began say, taking the young man by the arm and beginning to lead him over towards another so-called investor he hadn't met yet.

"I would rather not, if you don't mind," Lucas said in a calm, but low voice.

"Nonsense, you just have to meet………." Collins began to say, not realizing that there was now a major problem.

He started introducing him to the man before they even shook hands. "Mr Zenke, this is Lucas Wolenczak, the brilliant young man behind this project."

"Good evening, young man," the tall, broad shouldered man greeted him, but Lucas could see the same dubious look at his credentials that a number of the other people had during the evening.

They didn't believe that he was the one responsible for designing and creating the chip and thought Collins must have been pulling some PR junket to try and promote something his own company had designed that would have appeal for someone of Lucas's age.

"Mr Collins tells me that you are the brains behind this little revolutionary chip?" the man said, hoping to catch Lucas out about his knowledge of exactly what it did.

"Yes I am," Lucas shot back quickly. He was through playing Mr Nice this evening and wasn't about to sell himself or his chip short for any of these people.

"Your father is Doctor Lawrence Wolenczak is he not. A brilliant man himself. He must have had a large input into the design of this project at some point," the man remarked.

Lucas was left almost speechless at this comment, the mere mention of his father's name in the same sentence as his hard work was more than he could stand.

The man may as well have struck him across the face, rather than bring up such a subject.

"My _**father**_ has nothing to do with this," Lucas said unable to hide his contempt at the insinuation.

"I need some air………," he said, turning and not bothering to see the surprised looks on the faces of the two men as he walked away abruptly.

Collins was left to apologize to the man on behalf of the teenager, telling him that the boy was merely tired and hadn't meant to be so abrupt.

Lucas walked over to the table where his friends were quietly talking, and addressed the Captain.

"When I come back inside, we are leaving," Lucas said with determination, not wanting to discuss the matter further and not about to take "no" for an answer.

Bridger had almost the same shocked expression as Lucas had a few minutes earlier after hearing the callous remarks of the three men in the bathroom.

The crew exchanged worried looks at each other as they watched the troubled teenager walk through the two stained glass doors near the stage.

Tony was about to get up and go to his friend when a felt a restraining hand from the Captain.

"I think I had better go and see what is wrong," Bridger said, knowing that Lucas was angry over something more troublesome.

Piccolo nodded his head and the rest of the crew nodded their head at his suggestion.

Bridger walked out the same two stained doors, but they all failed to notice, was Bill Sykes sitting at a table meant for two just inside the left-hand side door.

It was time to begin putting his plan into effect.

* * *

By the time Bridger had exited the doors onto the balcony, Lucas had made his way over to the ornate railing and was leaning against one of the larger banisters, looking out over the city lights.

Bridger could see that the boy was more than angry, he was upset. And this puzzled and worried him at the same time. Things hadn't turned out tonight quite like the teenager had arranged, but he had no idea of what else had transpired.

Lucas looked up briefly at the approaching footsteps, but quickly looked away as a mixture of feelings began to swell up inside. He didn't know which one to release first. He felt like screaming in anger and crying like a baby all at the same time.

Bridger was astute enough of the young man's pride not to put his arm around him, but he was close enough to see the downcast expression on Lucas's young face.

"I am here if you want to talk," he finally said after a few minutes, knowing that he had learned over time that sometimes the best way to comfort Lucas was to be there in silent support.

"How stupid do I look now, huh?" Lucas remarked, the words seemingly coming out on their own with little control from him.

Bridger listened, but didn't make any judgment just yet.

"I should have guessed that this wasn't going to work out my way. Things in my life have a way of turning out exactly the opposite of how I want them. They have never gone right up to now so why should that track record change all of as sudden now."

"At least the other companies that I spoke to were honest about what would happen if I signed up with them. They weren't feeding me honey in one hand and giving me lemon juice in the other."

"I thought Collins understood what I wanted out of this partnership when we had our meeting. And its not that he is a bad person or anything. Over zealous perhaps, but not bad."

"I don't doubt that he thinks he has all of this planned out to the letter. But take a good look at him in there tonight. He hasn't done anything that those investors didn't tell him to do first," Lucas added.

"Give him a month, and those investors would just waltz right in and take over the project before he would even know what was going on. And he would be naïve to let it happen too," Lucas said, using his hands to emphasis his frustration even more.

Bridger found himself nodding his head in agreement at that assumption of Collin's personality. The man hadn't stopped still for a minute since they first walked into the hotel.

"Did you hear what those creeps said in there?" Lucas said, looking up sharply, his voice becoming more animated and angry as he spoke.

"Those bastards have the hide to talk about me behind my back!"

Bridger had just begun to understand what had happened to upset the boy, when he explained further.

"They didn't know I could hear them from that bathroom stall, but they talked about me being too young and that the chip couldn't be as good as I say it is, and that they weren't going to invest their money in something like that."

"That somehow they think I should be still in school and playing video games," he said, mimicking the tone of voice that he had heard from the three men.

Lucas was now giving a little laugh, but Bridger knew that there wasn't anything funny in the teenager's words. They were full of disappointment and frustration and hurt balled up together.

"And when I come out of there, ready to tell Collins to go jump…. you know what happens then?" he asked, pausing slightly he saw Bridger shrug his shoulders in a negative response.

"For a few brief moments, I am forced to talk to the other guy in there….. you are just going to love this," he mocked.

"The guy says, and I quote: That my miserable father, the esteemed Doctor Lawrence Wolenczak, bastard extraordinaire. And a brilliant man to boot he tries to inform me; must have had a large input into the design of MY project."

Bridger closed his eyes briefly as he realized how much hurt such harmless words would have invoked in the teenager.

"MY PROJECT!" Lucas said, looking up at Bridger, his face showing exactly how he was feeling.

He wanted to be angry and show Collins that he wasn't going to be pushed around or talked down to like a five year old. For a moment, Lucas wanted to forget how old he was supposed to be acting, and jump up and down, giving the biggest tantrum.

Whether it was right at that moment, in a public place or not, that Lucas felt Bridger's arm go around his shoulder as he fought hard to keep his emotions in.

No doubt some would say that he had every right to accept the embrace, but instead, fuelled by a new spark of anger, he deliberately pulled away from Bridger, not wanting to be comforted.

The realization had begun to hit home and Lucas could see his long held dreams for the microchip beginning to slip from his grasp, and it was hitting him pretty hard.

* * *

"What do you want to do?" Bridger asked gently, knowing how hard Lucas had worked on this over the past few weeks. How excited he had become, even when others were worried about his safety.

"The decision is yours, Kristin and I will support you in whatever do and I am sure the crew feel that way too," Bridger told him.

The teenager had done his best to swallow the tears of frustration that had built up, as he turned away and wiped at his face. A moment or two later, he felt ready to answer Bridger's question.

"They are not getting that chip," Lucas declared with resolve. "Do you know how much sweat and hard work has gone into that chip? he said, meant as a statement rather than a question.

"Do you know how much pain I have had to put up with over the past few weeks all because someone else thought they wanted to steal it away from me?

"Too much for me to give up on it and just let them take it away. Everything I have worked for will have been for nothing if I let people like that in there get a hold of that sort of technology."

"They are only in it for the money. It was never that for me, despite the offers they made. I made that chip for advancement in science and robotics. Not for profit."

Lucas found himself having to sit down on a nearby chair for a few minutes as his leg began aching just like Kristin had told him it would if he didn't rest it.

Nathan agreed with all of the boy's comments and was pleased that the boy had used his heart as well as his head to make the decision.

At the same time, he couldn't deny that his heart felt heavy for the boy's dreams being shattered like they had been.

For the time being anyway, they could make a better decision on the chip and its development once Lucas had had a chance to rest and gather his thoughts.

"What do you say to get out of here?" Bridger suggested, noting the tiredness on Lucas's face.

"What are you going to tell Collins?" Bridger enquired, about to suggest that he would talk to the man if Lucas didn't want to face him again tonight.

But in true Lucas style, the teenager straightened his shoulders and stood up, ready to face the music of what he was about to do, "I am going to tell him and them the truth."

* * *

Kristin was beside herself with worry about Lucas and was about to send Tony out to check on him and Nathan when they saw the two of them walk back in through the doors.

The two of them looked to speak briefly.

"Do you want me to be there with you when you tell him?" Bridger asked Lucas, knowing it wasn't going to be easy.

"No, its alright. I have to do this myself," Lucas said, knowing that the Captain could see through any mask that he might be trying to portray of being able to cope with the decision he had made.

Lucas couldn't see Collins at first, as he glanced around the room. Then he spotted the man standing up on the stage, adjusting a microphone, and began making his way onto the platform.

Whilst Lucas was doing this, Bridger had made his way back to the table. Kristin could see the expression on his face was a grim one.

"Okay people, lets pack it up nice and quickly," he began to say.

"Nathan, what's happened?" she asked. Bridger knew that it wouldn't remain a secret for very long and sighed heavily, as he tried to explain what had happened out on the balcony.

"Lucas is about to pull the plug on Collin's deal. Everything they told him was just to get their hands on his technology and then leave him out in the cold afterwards."

Bridger proceeded to tell the crew bits and pieces of the conversation that he and Lucas had what he had overheard the men saying about him and his chip.

"Oh dear, poor Lucas," Kristin gasped as she already guessed at how well this piece of news would have been received.

"You don't even know the half of it. That kid is tearing himself up inside. This was his dream that they took away from him," Bridger said, starting to get a little angry himself at Lucas's pain.

"One of the investors even accused Lucas of having his father Lawrence Wolenczak involved and coming up with the idea in the first place," Bridger explained.

The crew knew how much of a sore spot any mention of his real father was to Lucas. And for anybody to suggest that they were even in the same room together let alone working on anything, was just ludicrous.

"You want me and Dag to go and sort them out for you, Cap?" Tony Piccolo suggested quickly, intending to take a swing at somebody if that is what it took.

"No, and as soon as we leave here, I want Lucas left alone. He was very cranky and upset outside and this isn't going to be easy for him," Bridger told them.

* * *

"Where have you been, Lucas?" Collins asked as he spotted the teenager slowly making his way up to the stage. "I have been looking everywhere for you."

"Yeah, well I have come to tell you something too………..," he began to say, but was prevented from continuing when Collins began to speak into the microphone.

"Ladies and gentlemen, if I could have your attention here for a moment please. I promise not to keep your attention from your drinks for too long," he joked.

Lucas could feel everyone's eyes in his direction, and was wanting to make a hasty retreat, but knew that he had to tell Collins his decision first. Being thrust in the spotlight all of a sudden like this, wasn't exactly how he pictured it.

From behind, Lucas was not able to see Sykes begin to make his way through the crowd towards the elevators. He spotted Frank and Riley standing near the kitchen door and signaled for them to get ready to move into position.

"Mr Collins, you don't understand, I have to…………," Lucas tried to say, but the man spoke over the top of him.

"Without any further ado, I would like to introduce you all to the young man that I believe is going to make Collins Industries a household name. He may be young in age, but the chip that he had designed is out of this world and will be a great asset to this company."

Collins was hoping to keep to his promise of convincing the boy that the partnership would benefit them both, "Lucas, I know you don't like being the centre of attention like this but I hope you will accept this small token from me as a warm welcome."

Lucas found a small green box in his hand, and then Collins opening it for the crowd to see. It was a gold watch. The teenager found himself looking back nervously at the large group of people before the stage.

He wanted to tell Collins his decision, but this hadn't been expected at all. Lucas began to look for Bridger and the crew in the hope that the offer to help explain still stood, but with the bright lights in his face, he couldn't see their table.

"Don't be shy, Lucas," Collins said, wanting the boy to speak, rather than just stand there with a shocked expression on his face. "Here let me," he whispered, taking the watch out of the box and securing it around the boy's left wrist before the teenager had a change to object.

"There, see it fits perfect," Collins announced, taking a step back and beginning a round of applause in honour of the boy. The crowd joined in, except for the SeaQuest crew, knowing that this was exactly what Lucas didn't want.

"I am afraid you have this all wrong, Mr Collins," Lucas said, trying to release the watch from his wrist. "Don't get me wrong, it looks like a very nice watch, but have made the decision not to accept your partnership………,"

Just as the words left his lips, and a startled gasp erupted from the gathered crowd, the room was plunged into darkness as the lights went out. There were a few quick screams from some of the ladies and the sound of one of the waiters falling over whilst he was carrying a tray of glasses.

"Everybody just remain calm please, I am sure this is just a small technical hitch in this evening's events," Collins began to say, but with the microphone also having lost power, his voice was only heard at normal volume.

"What the hell is going on, Captain?" Brody spoke up on behalf of the crew.

"I don't know, but I don't like it," Bridger said. "But before he had a chance to make a decision as to what to do, he could hear Lucas calling to someone on the stage.

Riley had played with the main lighting switch that was located near the main stage area. It gave him and Frank the perfect opportunity to be close enough to not have to worry about tripping over tables and chairs in the pitch blackness.

"What happened to the lights, Mr Collins," Lucas demanded to know, not able to see anything.

"I don't know, Lucas," but before he could answer further, they heard a sharp "zzzt" sound and a tremendous thud as something large and heavy landed near the teenager's feet on the stage.

Riley had convinced Frank to deviate from Sykes plan a little about the tazer, thinking that they could distract the crowd of people more if they were concerned more about the man who was already unconscious.

"Mr Collins………….," Lucas said, trying to grope with his hand in the darkness to work out what had happened. His hand felt what he thought was the back of a jacket, and alarm bells began to set off in his head.

"Captain!" Lucas said as he stood up, still surrounded by darkness, but deliberately taking a step backwards, the fear in him growing that the lights going out had not been a mere accident.

"Hey, what the………!" the teenager exclaimed as he felt a set of arms grab him from behind, making him drop the watch box. Without warning he felt a large hand clamp down over his mouth to keep him silent.

"Surprise kid, bet you didn't think you would ever see us again, huh?" Frank laughed cruelly in his ear as he tightened his hold on the boy, jerking his head back and preventing him from getting loose.

"Let's move," he heard a second voice say.

"Mmpph!" Lucas tried to yell through the hand, trying to get someone's attention, recognizing the voices of his kidnappers, Frank and Riley.

"Lucas, where are you?" Bridger, cursing out loud as his knee connected with a chair.

But there was no response to his question.

Lucas tried his best to keep his feet planted firmly on the floor as possible, but he found with their combined bulk and his slight weight, he wasn't able to stop them very much.

Lucas cried out as the dragging action along the floor caused a sharp pain to his injured foot. The two captors ignored his pleas to stop, with Frank clamping his hand down further over the boy's mouth.

There was the distinct sound of shuffled footsteps as the two men tried to force their struggling captive to walk off the stage. The tricky part for them, like everybody else was going to be making their way across the room in the dark.

Sykes hadn't factored that scenario into his plan, he had merely seen the dousing of the lights as an opportunity to snatch the boy without being seen and take him by surprise..

One of the kitchen hands knew the layout of the room a little better than the guests, and was able to find the main light switch. Soon the room was bathed in chandelier light once more, but everyone froze with the situation now obvious to all.

* * *

On the stage, Mr Collins still laid out cold, and a number of the other guests had gone to his aid, trying to wake him and offer any medical aid.

"Hold it right where you are!" Crocker warned, as he and the rest of the SeaQuest crew quickly made their way through the rows of tables, so they could get to Lucas.

Bridger was just as shocked as everybody in the room to see the boy being manhandled by two men. They had almost gotten away with it too if the lights hadn't come back on.

"That's that same two jerks that had Lucas tied up in that cave," Tony declared as he and Dagwood inched along with the others, trying to think of a way to get their friend free.

Riley held the tazer in his hand and held it against the boy's exposed neck as a warning, "Anybody want to play hero?"

"Just let him go," Bridger tried to negotiate.

Now that the lights were back on, Riley and Frank began walking across the floor, Lucas still being dragged along with them.

"Can't rely on you two blockheads to do anything right, can I?" Sykes said as they neared the elevators.

Lucas looked at the red-headed man and recognized him from one of the meetings he had about the chip.

Sykes yanked Lucas out from Frank's grip releasing the hand from around his mouth, but now menacingly held a pistol in plain view, close to Lucas for all to see.

"And now my young friend, I am taking over and when we get you away from here and your friends, you are going to tell me where that chip of yours is," Sykes taunted.

"Get that elevator door open now," Sykes barked at the two men, backing up with his captive still held out in front.

Brody and Ford tried to get a little closer, hoping to catch them off guard and be able to grab Lucas away from them in time.

"Move back," Sykes ordered the crew and Bridger as the kidnappers backed up to the elevator doors.

"Keep coming gentleman, by all means, if you want to see him hurt," Sykes warned, cocking the pistol and butting the barrel up to Lucas's temple for emphasis.

Knowing that he had to create a diversion of some sort, Sykes pointed the gun at a nearby ceiling light and began firing at it. The crew and other people nearby were forced to take cover and shield themselves from the falling glass.

It was in that split second, that Sykes shoved Lucas roughly through the elevator doors, and into the hands of Riley and Frank once more. The teenager had fallen to the floor, but tried to scramble to his feet before the automatic door had a chance to close.

"LUCAS!" Bridger shouted as he tried to make it in time to keep the doors open.

"No, those bastards can't get him again," Tony declared, banging on the front of the elevator in frustration.

"LET GO OF ME!" could be heard being shouted as the elevator began to climb upwards.

to be continued…………….

**_Author Notes: There are far too many for this story really – suffice to say that the plot changed in several places – but not in others. I will give explanations for this in the final chapter._**

**_It has taken a very long time to update this story – for many reasons – but the last chapter will not take as long – and there is only one more to go._**

**_I decided after readers had waited so long, to put a bit more into this chapter – hence a slight change in what happens._**

**_When I first started writing, I had planned for Lucas to actually have something go right for him for a change – and his deal go through – but then again – this is what happened after I started writing this chapter – got a mind of its own somehow. This will be explained a little more in the final chapter._**

**_Collins character did change – and I tried to explain the reason for his change in personality – but probably didn't do it well enough. He wasn't supposed to be a baddie so to speak – but got too carried away and over the top._**

**_I had planned to stop this in a different place, but that would have left the next chapter quite short – so I left it here………… that's my story anyway LOL_**

**_Did I have you guessing with the Tazer – you thought I was going to use it on Lucas didn't you – come on own up. And use the snake juice ?? Just to keep you all guessing._**

**_Don't worry – I have something totally different in mind for the the climax – oh yes – something different…………..and yes there is a reason for the watch idea._**

**_Kristin and the rest of the crew didn't have much input in this Chapter except for Bridger. Tony I hope I am getting a little right with his mannerisms and personality. I did mention his mother in there, ignoring the episode a little where they had little contact._**

**_Please keep reading – I am enjoying it at the moment, so will update stories as soon as I can – including the ones like this that need finishing._**

**_I would like to update every week or every day – but unfortunately that is not the case._**

**_And I would rather the updates be worth reading and keep you coming back for more stories – than just updating for the sake of it._**

**_Please let me know what you think. Reviews inspire me to write more._**

**_JULES_**


	12. DANGEROUS TIMES

**THE SECRET DEVICE**

**By JULES6**

**This story takes place in the second series with the exception of Kristen Westphalen. **

**The scenes of this story come from a lot of different places, some SeaQuest, others not. Some you will recognize – others you won't. Just a mix up of things and people really.**

**Enjoy.**

**CHAPTER TWELVE – Dangerous Times**

In response to reviews:

criminally charmed – feel free to slap those investors upside the head. Save Lucas ??

yeah okay, but a few things to do first LOL – you know me – always putting him in more jeopardy first.

starbuck2008 – thanks for such a great review – happy to see that you are enjoying reading so far.

Seatbelts are advisable but optional. LOL Got to get back to that amnesia story very soon.

Lerrinus – So glad that I am getting Tony right – more of him in this chapter. What am I going to do to Lucas next?

Most of the time I don't even know that until it hits the page. LOL

curupira – I hope you enjoy this chapter and take some time to read some of my other stories if you liked this one. Thank you for your review – appreciate your comments.

**AuthorNote: I did make a fairly big mistake in the last chapter – doesn't stop the flow of the story – but something that shouldn't be there if you follow my stories enough. **

_**and now – for the climax:**_

"Nothing doing, Cap," I can't get the door to reopen until it comes back down," Tony began to say to Bridger as he examined the door to find a way to stop the elevator from rising.

Bridger nodded his head, knowing that time was not on their side. He was momentarily distracted by the sound of running footsteps approaching the SeaQuest crew that was gathered together.

"Captain, my name is John Hamilton, and I am the Hotel Manager. I haven't been told all the details by my staff yet, but as you can see, I have two security officers here with me now to assist you in anyway that we can."

"Thank you, but I don't have time for small talk, one of my young crew members has been taken hostage upstairs with a group of thugs, and they are threatening him with a gun," Bridger quickly explained.

"They have already hurt him before, and won't hesitate to do so again now," Kristin informed them. "There are three of them and he may not be able to defend himself from all of them for long."

"The police are on their way, Captain," Hamilton advised, swallowing as he realized that he nor his security team had had to deal with anything dangerous in the past.

"We can't wait for that, Mac," Tony said, spotting the doorway to a set of stairs.

"Mr Hamilton, I appreciate the offer, but my crew are trained for situations like this where hostages are involved. They feel very strongly about the young man upstairs, and will probably be able to get a lot closer to the kidnappers than your staff."

"I wouldn't want you putting your people at risk unnecessarily," he quickly added, hoping that the man wouldn't become more of a hindrance than a help.

"We will wait for the arrival of the police and anything else you may need, Sir," Hamilton stated.

"You and your staff can help by guarding any back or side exits in this hotel to stop them from getting away," Bridger suggested.

The Hotel Manager agreed and signalled to the two security officers to head towards the back entrances.

"I am a doctor. When Lucas is safe, I will come back downstairs and take a look at Mr Collins," Kristin said.

Hamilton nodded his head at the doctor's words, looking over at Collins who was still laying on the stage, but there were two women sitting nearby, offering what assistance they could for the time being.

Bridger looked about at the crew members he had on hand and had to make a snap decision about who best to use.

"Commander Ford, I want you, Ortiz and Brody to stay downstairs in case they try and take Lucas out the front of the building," Bridger ordered.

"Aye, Sir," Ford acknowledged, Brody and Miguel quickly taking up a position at the front doors of the hotel.

"I will stay here by the elevator, Captain."

"Jonathan, under no circumstances are they to get out of here with Lucas," Bridger emphasized, speaking more on a parental level now than a commanding officer.

"Understood."

"Dagwood want to help Lucas."

Bridger clapped the big man on the shoulder, knowing the protectiveness he felt towards the teenager. "We might just need you yet, Dagwood."

The G.E.L.F gave a large grin at the Captain, but then frowned as he focused on finding the men that had taken Lucas. He wouldn't let them hurt him.

"Dagwood have to go get Lucas now!"

The SeaQuest team smiled at the large man's matter-of-factly way of saying what he needed to.

"The elevator has stopped," Piccolo blurted out, his statement making everyone gathered around to look at the digital display for the floors.

"Tenth Floor, lets go," Bridger said, as he and Tony, followed by the remaining SeaQuest members up the staircase.

"How are we going to know which room, Captain?" Tony asked plainly.

"I don't know, Tony, let's just hope somehow we find out where they went quick," Bridger replied, thinking that Piccolo didn't need for him to paint a picture of what the men might try and do to Lucas.

They had been unable to hear any further conversation between Lucas and his assailants as the elevator rose higher and higher. The teenager had tried to reach the door, but had been shoved back by Sykes.

Bridger had heard him pleading to be let go. His blood began to boil over how much the boy had gone through in the past few weeks over his microchip. It seemed that nearly every corner Lucas turned there was somebody waiting to take it away from him and hurt him in the process.

* * *

_**back in the elevator:**_

Sykes and his sidekicks had barely spoken a word to Lucas they waited for the elevator to reach the correct floor.

The teenager didn't even know where they were headed, but heard the distinct bell telling him that they had arrived.

The digital number on the inside panel showed the tenth floor. Frank and Riley yanked Lucas out roughly, both of them on either side of him to prevent him from escaping. Lucas had to hop and then tap his injured leg on the floor a couple of times to adjust the cast.

No matter how much he wanted to deny it, his foot had been aching for a while, and being forced into the elevator hadn't done him any favours.

"Hold him still for a minute and keep him quiet," Sykes ordered, looking down the corridor on either side in case they came across any nosy onlookers. He had taken note earlier that day when organizing the suite that the tenth floor had the least number of guests.

Hopefully less chance of them being spotted with their young captive until they could make it to the room he had secured.

"You are not going to get away with this," Lucas said, trying to pull his arms free from the vice-like grip from the two men holding him.

"Don't try anything, kid," Riley warned, beginning to twist the boy's arm painfully to make his point. Lucas gave a small gasp and stopped struggling against him.

Lucas had looked down the corridors too, hoping that somebody would come along that he could call out for help from.

What he hoped most was that by now, Bridger and the other SeaQuest crew members would soon be coming up the elevator before Sykes did him any harm.

These thoughts were quickly dashed as he took a closer look at what Sykes was doing to the electronic panel of the lift.

Sykes pulled a small extendable screwdriver instrument from his pocket and used it to pull the front outside cover away from the wiring and electronic components. The man then proceeded to pull a small aerosol can from the pocket of his jacket and a small hand held lighter.

Holding the aerosol can a short distance from the wiring, he began spraying the wiring with the alcohol based liquid.

He looked back towards the teenager with a grin as he then introduced the naked flame to the fumes, creating a crude blow torch.

"NO!" Lucas shouted as he saw what he man was doing, intending to make the elevator malfunction. But he was held firm by Frank and Riley.

The wiring was soon a mangled and burning mess, an acrid smell coming from within the lift itself. Lucas wondered why the smoke alarm had not be activated, but deduced with the control panel now toast, it probably didn't work now either.

Sykes stepped back from the elevator and the doors were moving back and forth, but not closing entirely. It was now

inoperative and Lucas realized that it would take his friends and family longer to be able to help him.

From down in the elevator shaft, a voice bounced back upwards them, "Lucas, is that you?"

"Let's go," Sykes ordered gruffly to his henchmen, hoping that the elevator being out of action would have at least slowed down those downstairs.

It was clear from the voice they heard that the boy's friends were coming up, though it was difficult to guess how close or far away they were from the echoing.

The teenager found himself being shoved roughly along the corridor by the two men, having little regard for his injured foot.

Sykes put the gun back out and walked behind the three of them, ready to use force if the boy tried to make any attempt at running.

"Hey, take it easy, you are hurting my foot!" Lucas said as he grimaced at being shoved along.

"Captain!..." Lucas shouted back, thinking that he had recognized Bridger's voice calling out to him.

* * *

_**on the staircase:**_

Security Chief Crocker and Shan were in front of the Captain with their weapons drawn, ready to protect the crew as they had been trained to do. The priority at the moment was to reach Lucas and get him to safety.

"Did that sound like Lucas," Tony asked, pausing on the 3rd staircase as they thought they could hear an echo through the elevator shaft.

Bridger was halfway up the fourth set of stairs, but stopped at Piccolo's question along with everybody else as they listened for the voice again.

"_Captain!"_

"I heard that," Bridger said with determination as he started moving quickly again.

Tony and Dagwood were following behind.

"Now I know why they put elevators in places like this," Tony complained as the steep ascent was beginning to take its toll.

He was breathing heavily, but considered himself quite fit.

"You are the one who is always reminding everyone that you have a larger lung capacity, Piccolo," O'Neill said dryly as he passed him.

" …………_.your hurting my foot," _was what Kristin could hear and she too hurried to keep up with Nathan, praying that they could reach Lucas before those men did him any serious harm.

The sounds of the teenager's voice made them forget any idle conversation and continue their way up the staircase as quickly as possible.

* * *

_**in the corridor:**_

Lucas found himself being pushed and manhandled all the way to down the left-hand corridor of the tenth floor, and now stood in front of Room 348 as Sykes used his security key to unlock the door.

"Get him inside."

Lucas made another attempt at trying to struggle free but Frank's larger bulk was against him, and the teenager found himself being pushed into the room.

"Frank, you guard the door and get ready to pound on anybody that comes in," Sykes instructed.

Frank nodded his head and let go of Lucas's arm, taking up position by the front door and prepared to take care of anyone who entered the room without invitation.

The suite itself was in an "L" shape, with the smaller entrance way, and now the longer narrower living space and a kitchenette situated towards the back of that area. Along the right hand side of the room there were large glass sliding windows, but for the moment, they were draped in thick heavy maroon coloured curtains.

Towards the centre of the suite there was a long white couch surrounded by two smaller single arm chairs. There was a small coffee table at the end of the couch, and on top sat an ornate lamp.

"Let go of me!" Lucas demanded, as he was lead into the larger part of the room. But instead of listening, Lucas was thrown against the long couch, with Riley standing over him.

"Riley, get me a drink," Sykes told him, watching the teenager to gauge how much he might co-operate. There was fear there, but hidden at the moment, to the kid's credit.

He made sure that he had the boy's attention at the next statement, "And while you are there, grab the syringe I prepared earlier with that snake juice. Might just make our young friend here do what he is told."

"No, you can't use that stuff on me again," Lucas said, struggling to his feet awkwardly at the threat of being drugged again.

Without warning he fell back against the couch for a second time, immediately bringing his hand up to rub at his face where Sykes had just struck him hard.

"That was a warning boy."

"You can't keep me here," Lucas said, mustering as much courage as he could.

Riley had returned with the drink, which Sykes began to sip at. He had already had several during the afternoon, and this one just added more fuel to his anger.

"I wouldn't need to be doing this if you two blockheads had done what you were told in the first place," Sykes snarled at Riley and Frank for their earlier attempts at getting the microchip.

The pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place, and for the first time, Lucas finally realized what had been happening from the start, "You were behind everything that happened to me?" he said, more of an accusation than a question.

"You hired Riley and Frank to snatch me from the party that night didn't you?"

No answer came, but the lack of one confirmed the boy's newly learned suspicions.

"And you must have been behind planting Riley on the SeaQuest in the first place when he hit me on the head and stole my money."

One again, Sykes didn't respond, but Lucas already knew he had gotten most of it correct. He didn't know why he had been so slow to connect the dots before. Up until now, he had been so blind as to not see the danger. He swallowed nervously as he realized that Sykes could have made his move on the day of that first meeting as well, before the party.

"You have caused me a great lot of trouble, young man," Sykes said as took a step closer to intimidate the youth more.

"I offered you a fair price before, but you didn't take it. Thought you could offer it to that idiot Collins instead," Sykes said questioning Lucas's motives for not signing with his company."

"If you had listened downstairs, I already told Collins I wasn't going to give to him either, but then you and your goon squad decided to spoil the moment and douse the lights," Lucas challenged with some of his spent anger from earlier beginning to return.

This statement from the teenager stopped Sykes for a moment. The man had not known about this and thought it might work to his advantage.

"So, you still have the microchip on offer again," Sykes replied.

"NO!"

"What do you mean 'No'?" Sykes asked as his face began to get angry once more.

"I told Collins, and I will tell you, it is no longer for sale," Lucas said as the feelings of the rejection he had felt downstairs began to resurface.

"I want that microchip and I mean NOW!" emphasizing his point by throwing the empty glass against the wall, causing the teenager to flinch slightly.

"You think I am going to be stupid enough to carry it on me here tonight," Lucas accused, but just as the sentence left his lips, he received another harsh slap across his face. This time he had to wipe some blood away from the corner of his mouth.

"You don't learn so good kid, and you are trying my patience," Sykes shouted, knowing that he was probably going to have to get the kid out of here soon. His family were too close for comfort. This scenario wasn't working to plan either and his cover had now been blown.

"I say yank that cast off his leg, it might be hidden in there," Riley voiced, remembering the kid had been wearing it a week ago.

"No its not!" Lucas shouted, trying to get up off the couch, horrified of the thought of having the bones in his foot out of alignment again. It was aching as though in protest to that very thought, but for now he had to grit his teeth and bear it as best he could and not appear weak in front of these men.

"Search him," Sykes ordered, and watched as Riley readily obliged and grabbed the front of Lucas's jacket and began to search for the microchip, even if the kid denied having it.

Lucas managed to punch the man twice, but received one to the stomach that left him gasping for air. Riley had already demonstrated back on SeaQuest that he didn't give a damn if the kid was in pain or not.

"NO, KEEP AWAY FROM ME!" Lucas yelled as the man punched him several more times as he tried to fend off his assailant while he was being searched. The jacket he was wearing now torn in several places.

* * *

_**on the stairs:**_

Bridger and the SeaQuest crew had finally reached the top and opened up the door that led to the Tenth Floor. All of them were realizing just how out of shape they were. Even with all the stairs on SeaQuest between the different deck levels didn't compare.

"Where to now, Captain?" Shan asked, as he and Crocker readied themselves to take on Lucas's kidnappers first.

There were two different possible directions – left and right – and taking the wrong one might mean losing valuable time in finding their young crew member and friend.

A stroke of luck seemed to be on their side though, as they suddenly heard the sound of breaking glass. All of them hurried and headed left. They had traveled nearly all the way to the end when they could hear the sound of Lucas's voice.

"_NO, KEEP AWAY FROM ME!"_

The room number was 348, but when Shan tried the handle, he wasn't surprised to find it locked.

"Remember, Lucas is in there," Bridger informed the two security officers. He knew that they were good at their job in a hostage situation, but he felt compelled to remind them of just what was at stake.

Crocker gave the door a shoulder charge, but the lock wouldn't give. It was going to take a considerable more amount of force than that to get it open and help Lucas inside.

* * *

_**This will be a mixture of inside and outside the suite: **_

When Riley briefly stopped the assault, Lucas looked up at Sykes, trying to ignore the pain, refusing to give up the hiding place of his microchip.

By now Sykes could hear someone banging on the door, but he was determined to get the information out of this kid one way or another. Having his family watch his torment would just make it more satisfying.

"Hold him up, Riley," Sykes ordered, giving an evil grin to the teenager.

Lucas tried to bat away Riley's hands as he was pulled into a standing position. He hissed at the pain in his ribs and wrapping a free hand around his middle.

"You could make this a lot easier on yourself, Lucas," Sykes tried to negotiate one final time.

"Go to hell!" Lucas said through clenched teeth as his ribs flared in pain again.

The result was Riley painfully twisting his arm up behind his back, making the teenager gasp out loud, "Oww Stop!" he demanded.

Piccolo and Kristin along with everybody else could hear the raised voices on the other side of the door, but when they heard Lucas telling them not to hurt him, Nathan tried to ram the door again. Angry that someone would deliberately hurt Lucas.

"We need to get in there now damn it!" Bridger shouted in frustration as the door remained locked. For a brief moment he berated himself about not asking the manager downstairs to give them the master keys for all the rooms before heading up the stairs.

He was about to tell Shan and Crocker to use their weapons on the lock when without saying anything further, Dagwood stepped forward and gently pushed the Captain out of the way.

"Dagwood have to help Lucas," was all that he said.

The G.E.L.F. used his large bulk and strength to literally break the door off its hinges. Frank standing on the other side wasn't quick enough to move when the door and frame buckled. The man now lay unconscious underneath the door as they walked through into the suite.

"Good going, Dagwood," Lonnie praised on everyone's behalf, receiving a sheepish grin from the G.E.L.F.

Sykes and Riley looked up in shock as the door burst open, scowling that Frank had been of little help in stopping them from coming in.

Riley turned back to the teenager and noted that the boy was giving a half-hearted smile back to his friends, grateful that they had finally found him. With the audience they had suddenly drawn, he took the brief chance he had missed on SeaQuest.

Before Lucas turned back towards him, Riley let go with a very solid punch to the boy's rib area, causing him to gasp out loud. This time he exhaled all at once and couldn't draw enough air into his lungs to ask him to stop and proceeded to fall in an untidy heap on the floor.

"Hey, how about you pick on someone your own size," Tony challenged Riley, as he stepped forward ready to dish out some punishment for his friend. He remembered it had been Riley that had slugged the teenager on the small boat when they had rescued him from the cave. And it had been Riley who had hit the teenager back on SeaQuest and stolen his money.

In response Riley gave Tony a wry look and returned a scoffed reply of his own, "You mean like you?" poking fun at Piccolo's smaller stature.

Tony says, "Don't be fooled by the outside, Pal, on the inside I am twice as big. At least I can fight back better than Luke can there at the moment. What, you got to be picking on him all the time when he can't hit you back so good?"

Riley had looked back smugly at first at Tony and the SeaQuest crew, but it soon disappeared when he realized that Tony wasn't the threat as he saw the very angry face of Dagwood looking back at him.

"Keep that freak away from me," Riley shouted as he started to back up away from Dagwood, remembering what had happened to himself aboard the SeaQuest when he had tried to take Lucas by force in a launch.

None of the SeaQuest crew moved, watching as the man squirmed as the larger man kept coming.

Dagwood grabbed the man by the front of his shirt and by the seat of his pants and picked him up ready to throw him, "I am not a freak, I am a prototype," he said as he proceeded to throw the man against the wall, rendering him unconscious.

Dagwood turned back towards Bridger, expecting the Captain to be cranky with him for not doing thing the correct way and taking things into his own hands.

"Way to go Dagwood," Tony applauded briefly, followed by the rest of the crew.

* * *

"I will make you talk boy!" Sykes yelled as he stood over his victim in a threatening stance.

To their utter horror and disbelief, before any of them could even prevent it happening, Sykes gave a cruel and hard kick to Lucas who still lying on the floor. Rolling up into a fetal position, the teenager doubled over and couldn't help but scream out in pain as it rippled through his entire chest.

"LUCAS!" Bridger shouted as he started making his way towards the injured boy. He wanted to rip Sykes apart with his bare hands for his callousness.

Shan and Crocker turned their attentions to arresting Sykes who was still armed, and allowing Doctor Westphalen to reach Lucas and help him.

Lucas appeared to be very close to losing consciousness, but was moving slowly as if trying to get out of the way in case the man kicked out at him again. Every movement of his arm or body was accentuated with a gasp of fresh pain from his ribs.

"Drop your weapon and step away from Lucas," Shan ordered firmly, prepared to use his own weapon if necessary to stop the man from assaulting the injured teenager again.

Instead of complying with their request, Sykes did the exact opposite and turned the situation even more dangerous. Without any consideration for his current or previous injuries, the man grabbed Lucas by his jacket collar and quickly pulled him up into a standing position, ignoring the groan and fresh cry of pain that came from the teenager.

Sykes forced Lucas to stand in front of him as a shield, whilst the SeaQuest crew watched the grimaces cross the teenager's face as he closed his eyes, trying to cope with what felt like red-hot pokers on his stomach area and upper chest. They could see the torn jacket and shirt and the fresh bruises from the slaps and punches he must have endured before they burst through the room.

Lucas was too focused on dealing with the pain to look at his friends very much, and once more wrapped his free arm protectively as much as he could around his middle. Sykes had his hand around the back of the boy's neck and was jerking him backwards, causing the pain in his ribs to flare again. He had to bite his lip to stop from screaming out again.

Bridger and Kristin wanted to get to Lucas, but Shan and Crocker held them back, knowing how they felt. Tim O'Neill and Lonnie stayed near Tony, ready to stop him rushing forward if necessary, but for the moment he seemed to be as calm as possible despite seeing his friend in more danger.

* * *

The security officers were aware that they had to weigh up the option of trying to take a shot at Sykes without putting Lucas as further risk. The man still held his own gun too close to the teenager and already demonstrated his ability to fire the weapon once tonight.

For a brief moment, Lucas felt the hand release from his neck as Sykes reached for a switch near the windows which allowed the curtains to be drawn back mechanically. It was a short moment of relief though, the restraining hand now moved to his upper arm and tightened, but something else was now keeping the teenager's attention………. the vast expanse of lights from the city.

Sykes was still holding the gun firmly in hand and Lucas doubted he would be able to make it more than a few steps before the man would put a bullet in his back without even hesitating about his age.

With the curtains fully open and despite the darkness of the night, Lucas as well as the SeaQuest crew were able to grasp enough that they were very high up in the hotel. The sounds of night life from the city wafted up to them from below.

The windows were enormous and on any other day, might have provided a stunning view. Right at this moment, Lucas felt a stab of fear run through him as Sykes backed up against closer to the window.

Using one hand again, Sykes unlatched the sliding aluminum frame and slid the window open so that the cool night air blew against their jackets. Lucas shivered slightly, but didn't think it was the temperature that caused it. He looked back at Bridger, unable to hide the naked fear that he felt about what Sykes might do.

"Please, let's all just calm down and talk this through," Bridger tried to negotiate with Sykes.

The Captain too felt nauseous at how close the man was standing to the open window, but had to remain calm and confident for Lucas's sake. The teenager was looking back at him, pleading for some help very soon, before Sykes made another move.

"I am done talking," Sykes growled, pulling Lucas sharply towards him. "It wasn't supposed to happen like this."

"Don't make things worse. Just let Lucas go and we promise we will listen to anything you have to say," Crocker urged.

"What do you want?" Shan asked, trying to buy a little more time. He could see the man was getting more agitated not calmed down, and Lucas didn't look too good.

"I want this kid's microchip," Sykes demanded. "And if I can't have it, then I will make him create another one just like it."

"None of us has the microchip here," Bridger replied, hoping that the man would begin to see reason. Or at least distract him long enough to be able to get Lucas away to safety.

Crocker and Shan gave each other a signal to see if they could psyche him out a little and get the man to let down his guard and relax his grip on Lucas long enough for them to pounce.

Their weapons were already in position, ready to fire, "I have got a shot, and I am going to take it," Shan announced, trying to see if he could invoke a reaction from Sykes.

"Give up your gun and release Lucas now!" Crocker ordered in an authoritive voice.

"You must think I am a fool," Sykes retorted angrily, shaking Lucas roughly to emphasis that he still had all the trump cards.

As if to up the ante, Sykes now cocked the weapon, ready to fire and made sure that the entire crew was watching as he butted it against Lucas's back.

Lucas turned his face away from the SeaQuest crew thinking that the next sound he would hear would be the bullet that ended his life.

Suddenly his ears were filled with the loud sound of a gun being fired and he flinched violently. The distinctive clunk of a weapon could be heard hitting the floor, but to his amazement, somehow he had avoided being shot.

Very carefully Lucas opened his eyes, afraid of what he might see.

Lucas briefly looked back at his assailant who still had a vice like grip on his arm, and noted a red dot on the man's shoulder. A blood stain that was beginning to grow larger and spread.

Shan had breathed a sigh of relief that he had been able to wound the man and not kill him, and put what he thought was an end to the hostage situation. The other crew members in the room were convinced it was all over as well.

The teenager had been expecting the man to let him go as he dealt with the shock of being shot, but instead, he could begin to feel himself being dragged backwards. Then everything in the room seemed to almost stop. As though they were watching a silent movie in slow motion.

Sykes had been standing close to the edge of the large window, and the velocity of the bullet had been enough to cause him to loose his balance as well as his weapon.

"Captain!" Lucas yelled out in fright as he could feel Sykes beginning to topple backwards, and he could not get away in time to maintain his own balance. He reached out his hand towards Bridger, desperately trying to stop himself falling.

It all happened in a split second and the crew could scarcely fathom what was happening as they heard the strangled cry from Lucas and then watched both he and his captor fall out of the tenth storey window.

The feeling of watching everything in slow motion was quickly replaced with the sensation of it all being over in the blink of an eye.

They had all seen him fall. And they had heard Lucas's brief but terrified screams mix with those of Sykes as they both plummeted to their deaths.

Now, there was silence once more.

Lonnie had buried her face against Dagwood's large arm, tears running down her face.

O'Neill had taken off his glasses and was rubbing at his eyes tiredly.

Shan and Crocker, lowered their weapons, their voices temporarily lost and their mouths agape at what had just happened.

Kristin remained frozen to the spot in shock at what he had just seen. She too said the teenager's name, but it was barely above a whisper as she didn't want to believe what had happened.

Bridger watched with bemused horror and fear, "Lucas………………….!"

* * *

The darkness of the night was illuminated by the rows of spot lightning around the pool and deck area and in the gardens.

There were larger lights anchored higher up on the brick exterior of the hotel at various vantage points, showering the area in a mixture of fluorescent lights, punctuated by shards of shadows where the light did not reach properly.

Downstairs, where Brody and Miguel were standing near the front doors, their surveillance was interrupted by the screaming they could hear coming from the rear of the hotel.

Ford had raced a few steps to where they were, making sure that he wasn't the only one hearing the sound. They all briefly shared a look, and then raced towards a nearby exit. Ortiz and Jim closely on his heels.

"Dear God, you don't think………..," Brody said, leaving the sentence unfinished as they all looked up, not wanting to voice his thought out loud.

All three of them recognized Lucas's voice.

A few moments later, the body of Sykes hit the concreted area near the pool with a sickening thud. There was

nothing that anybody could do for the man. He was dead and had paid the ultimate price for his crimes.

* * *

Tony was the first to break free from the shock and race towards the window ledge. Swallowing nervously and gingerly peering over the edge, he forced himself to look down.

Piccolo looked back after he watched the small crowd gather round the body of Sykes, "He ain't down there," he blurted out.

Bridger looked at the man as though confused and in a daze, a mixed range of emotions crossing the older man's face as he tried to come to terms that he had just lost Lucas.

"Not there!" Kristin said first, scarcely able to believe Tony either. "How can he not be down there?"

"I am telling you, Luke ain't there splattered on the pavement with that other guy," he reiterated, looking back nervously at Bridger and Westphalen, not knowing what else to say to them.

But as he spoke, he almost failed to hear a voice call back to him.

"Tony," Lucas whispered.

"Yeah, yeah, hang on Luke, I telling the Captain and the others that you ain't down there," Tony stated, not realizing what he had just said.

But almost at once, he had to do a complete back flip as he realized who he had spoken to and whose voice he could hear.

"LUCAS!" he shouted with relief as he spotted the teenager clinging to the outside ledge.

Bridger rushed to the window ledge, overwhelmed by the fact that Lucas had miraculously somehow to survive and prevent himself from falling with Sykes. He was quickly joined by the others in the room as they looked down with relief at the teenager.

"Are you alright?" Piccolo asked, knowing it sounded like a stupid question.

Lucas rolled his eyes at first towards his friend wanting to give a clever retort in return, but his ribs and body were hurting too much for him to talk much. If he could have managed a scowl at his friend, he would have, instead he shook his head as he felt another wave of pain run across his chest.

When he had fallen out with Sykes, somehow the man's grip had managed to slip to the new gold watch that Collins had presented him with. The clasp had broken under the strain, causing Sykes to loose his hold on Lucas altogether.

At the very last moment, Lucas had managed to grab onto the window's brick ledge, his body crashing against the exterior wall of the hotel. He felt like he had been punched all over again. The pain was sharp in places and he knew that couldn't be good. There was about a foot distance between the window sill and where the teenager was holding onto the ledge.

"Pull him in," Lonnie said as Tony and Dagwood stood side by side, ready to help Lucas back into the room. But as soon as they took a hold of his forearms and started, the teenager cried out sharply in pain again.

"Stop!" Kristin ordered, hearing the cry of pain, and worried about what might be causing it.

"Lucas, I know you are in pain honey, but tell me where that pain is?" she asked gently, trying to assess the best way to get him inside without hurting him more.

While she was doing this, O'Neill opened up one of the other windows alongside them and was walking to Brody, Ford and Miguel who were still standing downstairs.

"We need some help up here," Tim told them, and saw that the three men quickly went inside. It would take them a few minutes to climb the staircase.

* * *

Lucas tried to calm down a little at Kristin's voice, but the fact that he was still dangling out from a window ledge was doing nothing for his self-confidence. He could feel someone else holding his arms, but it didn't stop the fear. It was perpetuated by the fact that he didn't like heights.

Lucas could feel his heart inside his chest racing. It was difficult to breath and each one he did take made his chest hurt more. He didn't dare look down but that didn't stop his mind from thinking about the position he found himself in. Dangling out of a window, ten stories up.

"I know you are scared, but Tony and Dagwood won't let you go," Kristin tried to assure him.

"Pain is in my chest," Lucas managed to get out, his breathing noticeably more audible. It was also shallow and laboured.

"Nathan, talk to him. Keep his mind off his pain if you can," Kristin said to Bridger.

Bridger maneuvered himself so that he wasn't obstructing Dagwood or Piccolo, but was still able to put a comforting hand on Lucas's shoulder. He could see some scraps and bleeding around the knuckles where the teenager had first tried to grab a hold and stop himself from falling, but he didn't voice anything out loud.

"You are going to be okay, Lucas. We will get you inside and Kristin to take a look at you," Bridger began to say, but he stopped talking, thinking that he was sounding lamer by the minute. Lucas wasn't a kid anymore and didn't need to have everything sugar-coated for him.

"I am not going anywhere," Lucas said trying to accomplish half a smile, but it was clear from his voice that he was tiring very quickly and running out of strength against the pain. He would not be able to pull himself inside without assistance.

"Listen to me very carefully," Kristin said in a serious, but whispered voice to Tony and Dagwood. "It is a distinct possibility that Lucas may have some broken ribs. You will have to be extremely careful when pulling him inside."

"Broken ribs," Piccolo repeated with concern.

"We have to keep Lucas calm and relaxed. The more he gets upset and agitated, the more the muscles in his chest are going to constrict and tightened, causing him more pain," she explained.

"You will need to lift him up a little at the same time as pulling Lucas in, to avoid any more friction of his chest against the brick wall," Kristin instructed.

"Lonnie, when Ford and the others get here, tell them that we need a paramedic waiting for us, ready to transport Lucas if necessary."

Lonnie nodded her head in acknowledgement to the doctor, only to eager to help in any small way she could.

"Tim, go and grab some pillows and blankets. Once Lucas is inside, I will assess him while we wait for the ambulance.

We might need some ice and some towels dampened with water to help ease any discomfort because I don't have my medical bag with me tonight," Kristin explained.

Kristin was talking briefly to the Captain when Ford, Brody and Miguel came into the room.

Lonnie raced over to them, keeping her voice a little lower for Lucas's sake, but they were both able to see for themselves the predicament that their young friend found himself in.

"How is Lucas?" Brody asked quickly, making the same mistake as Piccolo and knowing it sounded like a silly question almost immediately.

"Kristin thinks he might have broken ribs. He is hanging onto the ledge, but Tony and Dagwood are holding him now too,"

she explained, see the facial expressions of the two men relax a little knowing that Lucas was out of danger from falling.

"She wanted me to tell you, Commander, that we need for the paramedics to be ready once Lucas is brought back inside," Lonnie continued.

"Already on it," Ford announced, grabbing his PAL communicator and speaking into it, requesting the assistance they needed. A few moments later, he told them of the arrangements he had made, "I have three paramedics coming."

"Three?" Lonnie queried.

"One downstairs for Mr Collins, he seemed to be still having some sort of effects from the Tazer. And I have asked for a Medivac helicopter to land on the roof of this hotel as soon as possible. With the elevator out of working order, Lucas isn't going to be able to make any lengthy trip back those staircases," Ford told them.

"The roof is only two floors up, so there won't be as much jostling for Lucas, especially if he does have broken ribs like Doctor Westphalen assumes."

"And the third?" Lonnie prompted, not sure that she really wanted to hear the answer, knowing that Ford had deliberately not mentioned it.

"For the body," Ford informed her reluctantly; pretty sure that Henderson would get the picture without going into too much detail. He kept his voice low, glancing over towards the open window where the rest of the crew were trying to help Lucas.

"Let's get this couch moved into a better position to help out," Brody said to Ford as they watched what was happening at the window. Having too many people there would only hamper the situation, not help. Lonnie took some of the pillows from O'Neill, ready to assist where she could as well.

* * *

Turning her attention back towards Lucas again, Kristin focused all of her attention on watching what Piccolo and Dagwood were doing. There was no way of knowing what injuries he had already sustained, and she didn't want to make them worse.

And then there was Lucas himself. She could see the fatigue and pain etched on his young face, but she didn't know if he was going to be able to help them bring him back into the suite or not. They had to be prepared for the situation that he might not be able to.

"A little cold….," Lucas murmured, but his voice was soft and fading.

"Okay, lets bring you inside then," Kristin soothed, but looked at his heavy eyes, she didn't know how much he had heard.

"Nice and slow, Dagwood and Tony," she instructed.

Tony and Dagwood altered the hold they had on the injured teenager, and placed their free hands underneath his arms to give more support. So far so good, Lucas didn't seem to respond much to their additional touch.

"One…. two…… three, Dagwood," Tony said as they prepared to lift the teenager together.

But it was when he felt himself being lifted that Lucas opened his eyes as the pain reignited in his chest. At first he tried fighting against the hands that were trying to help him. Tony was mortified that he was causing his friend more discomfort, but realized that he couldn't change where he was holding onto halfway through, in case he lost his grip on Lucas altogether.

They had to be mindful of the flexible cast that was still on his injured foot when lifting him through the window.

Despite the brief attempts of resistance, Tony and Dagwood lifted Lucas sufficiently and then began pulling him inside. Once his feet were inside the room, Bridger quickly shut the window behind them and dragged the curtains across manually.

Lucas's head was bowed low as he was carried over to the couch. He winces of pain were now deep moans and his eyes were closed. Laying him gently on his back, Tony could feel the coolness of his skin and was concerned that they had something else to deal with.

"He does feel cold," Piccolo voiced out loud to Kristin as she knelt beside the teenager.

Lonnie had placed two pillows under the teenager's head and O'Neill had passed a blanket to the doctor as she began assessing how hurt he was.

"Thank you," Kristin replied, spreading out the blanket and tucking around Lucas as much as she could to ward off the onset of shock. With everything that Lucas had been through tonight, physically and emotionally, it was a real danger.

Bridger moved to the head of the couch, watching on with worry written across his own face, stroking the teenager's forearms gently, waiting for Kristin to give her opinion. He could feel small tremors in the boy's arms, and suspected it was due to coming to terms with what had almost happened.

"Lucas can you hear me?" she asked gently, knowing that the boy was tired from the pain. At first she didn't think she was going to get an answer, but after calling his name again, her efforts were rewarded.

"Lucas, I need you to wake up for me," she said, using her hand to gently shake him.

"C-cold," was the only word offered as his eyes opened to pale blue slits.

"You just take it easy, I will get you warm in no time," she smiled, giving his hand a squeeze for reassurance and then adding a second blanket.

"Lucas, this is going to hurt a little, and I am sorry, but I have to see how bad your chest is," Kristin warned.

The sleepy teenager nodded his head slightly.

"Hold him still, and try and keep him awake if you can" Kristin whispered to Nathan as she pulled back the blanket and lifted his torn jacket and shirt.

Kristin closed her own eyes for a second at seeing the extent of the bruising that was already evident.

Those watching from a short distance away were also able to see the motley discolouration to Lucas's skin from the punishment he had received. No wonder he had cried out in pain.

"Lucas is hurt," Dagwood said matter-of-factly, as he too watched the doctor work.

"Yes, Dag, but the Doc is going to fix him up," Tony said, wishing to himself that he had been a little earlier at stopping Sykes and Riley from hurting the teenager.

Kristin used expert hands to press as gently as she could over the teenager's rib cage, and it didn't take long to locate the spot of the trouble.

"No, Lucas, you have to remain as still as possible," Kristin apologized. "I know it hurts," She hadn't had a chance to assess the cast on his leg yet, but at a brief glance it seemed to be still intact and relatively clean.

Lucas had gasped as soon as the pain erupted in his chest and he tried to sit up in a hurry to escape the doctor's probing, coughing and trying to twist away from the hands that were trying to stop him.

She continued with her probing, but Lucas wasn't co-operating very well at all, and tried swatting away her hands.

He coughed a second time, this time the pain of doing so evident on his face as he tried to turn away from her against towards the back of the couch.

Kristin lowered his torn shirt once more and replaced the blanket, replacing the warmth, "I can't tell enough from here if his ribs are broken or not, but he is hurting too much at the moment," she said quietly to Nathan.

* * *

"Doctor, the paramedics are here," Ford told Westphalen as the two men appeared at what remained of the front door.

Both of the men were clearly surprised by the debris that greeted them, and wondered just exactly what they were walking into.

"Stay with him," Kristin said to Bridger as she quickly got up to talk to the paramedics.

"Hello, I am Doctor Kristin Westphalen," she greeted them professionally.

"Good evening Doctor, we are from the Medivac team and have a helicopter waiting at the request of Commander Ford, but you might want to give us a little more background information," he prompted.

The two men were a little surprised to be met by a doctor, but knew that she would be best to describe the patient's symptoms and injuries and what had happened.

"The patient is a seventeen year old boy who I suspect may have broken ribs at the very least. He has another prior injury to his leg as you can see, but that is not my major concern at the moment."

One of the men were about to ask a question, but Kristin wanted them to hear her first, and she shushed him briefly with her hand, going on to give them a brief account of Lucas being held hostage and what had happened upon them arriving in the room.

"I am normally his personal physician, but I haven't had much of a chance to assess all of his injuries yet before you came through the door," Kristin explained.

"Apart from all of that, he had been under an enormous amount of emotional stress tonight, so don't be surprised if he isn't very co-operative or forthwith to answer any of your questions," she forewarned.

"Don't worry, Doctor, we will take very good care of him," the paramedic assured her as they began making their way over to the couch. They already had a fairly good idea that she cared very much for the young man.

Some rudimentary introductions were made to the two paramedics of the other people in the room, and they briefly understood that these people were close friends and family of the boy lying injured.

"This is Lucas," Kristin told them as she hovered nearby, allowing them to do their job, but wanting to watch over her young charge.

All the time that Kristin had been talking to the two men, Bridger had been talking softly to Lucas, keeping him awake as instructed. Holding onto his hand and helping the teenager to cope with the pain.

Tony was standing with the rest of the SeaQuest crew in the room, all of them ready to lend a hand if asked, angry that Lucas had been hurt yet again. But also relieved that he was still alive after what had happened because of Sykes.

"I have been trying to keep him alert as much as possible," Bridger said, keeping his attention still focused on Lucas.

A fresh wave of pain assaulted Lucas as the paramedics knelt beside the couch and opened up their bags, and they could see for themselves how uncomfortable he was. They could see some bruising beginning to appear on his face and the dull, glazed look in his eyes from pain and fatigue.

"Did you give him anything yet, Doctor?" the first paramedic asked her, as he drew out a pen light.

"No, sorry, I wanted to, but I haven't got my medical bag with me tonight," Kristin replied. "This was supposed to be a special night of celebration for him."

The paramedic nodded his head in acknowledgement.

* * *

"Lucas?" the paramedic called in a calm, but gentle voice.

"My name is Glenn, Lucas, and I am going to have you out of here and feeling better in no time," he explained.

This was a ploy that he used on most patients in his care, and it was used to do one of two things, firstly, allowing him to assess his patient's level of alertness and coherence. And secondly, to convince the boy that he was there to help.

Lucas looked back at the man and gave an indication that he had heard the man, but didn't answer back. The man understood a little more about the doctor's comments about his emotional state.

"I am just going to take a quick look at you okay, Lucas. I am not going to hurt you, but I want you to let me know when the pain comes, okay?"

Lucas briefly nodded his head that he understood.

"Good, you doing fine already, Lucas," the paramedic praised, trying to keep the boy's spirits lifted and keep his mind off what hurt.

Glenn went about taking the boy's pulse and then listening briefly to his heart, he commented to Bridger and Kristin as he worked, "His heart rate is still somewhat racy, and his breathing is a little laboured and shallow as you can no doubt hear."

"As soon as he is stabilized, we can get him out of here as quickly as possible and onboard the helicopter. Once at the hospital he can undergo x-rays to determine if his ribs are broken," the man spoke.

Just as he finished speaking though, Lucas began to cough again, his groans of stabbing pain being noted carefully.

"Let me out of here," Lucas said, not really grasping that he was already lying down and people were trying to help him. He could feel someone pressing down on his shoulders, keeping him on his back.

"Alright Lucas, calm down for a minute," Glenn said, trying to gain the boy's co-operation.

"Let me………. sit up," Lucas managed to get out.

Lucas coughed twice more, scrunching up his face as the pain flared again in his chest, making him fall back weakly against the back of the couch. But this time he was sitting more upright. He seemed to be a little more co-operative.

The teenager could feel himself quickly losing track of what was going on around him as all of his thoughts focused on how miserable, battered and bruised he felt. His reactions were slow, but he could hear voices talking to him and tried his best to respond.

"I am going to put something over your face now Lucas, but it is there to help you, okay?"

It looked as though Lucas might resist the green transparent mask at first, but his energy levels were quickly waning. The mask was placed over his face and a small transportable cylinder of oxygen was placed alongside him.

The paramedic adjusted the gauge, judging how fast the flow should be. "I am going to give him some Pethidine for the pain in a moment," he said to Kristin.

"It won't take the pain away completely, but it will take the edge off it for a time. The oxygen will hopefully help keep him alert as much as possible until we can get him to hospital."

"Doc, Luke is out on his feet, can't you give him something to help him sleep. He won't feel the pain that way?" Tony queried.

"Unfortunately this is the best we can do for now, Tony," Kristin tried to explain. "If possible, we need to keep Lucas awake before we reach the hospital in case he does have broken ribs and needs intervention."

"Too many words in one sentence, Doc," Tony said, knowing that Kristin would do everything in Lucas's best interests.

"And what if we can't keep him awake that long?" this time the question coming from Bridger as he noted the tiredness on his face and the teenager's slumped posture.

With Lucas now sitting up a little more, the Captain got off his knees and sat beside the teenager, keeping as close as he could without hampering the paramedics.

"Its not a test, Captain," Glenn replied, knowing that it was often difficult for parents and friends to see their loved ones in pain or distress. "He is doing just fine at the moment. The pethidine might make him a little more loopy than normal."

The second paramedic was doing all of the handling of the equipment and giving to Glenn as he asked for them, but ready if another pair of hands was needed.

"I am just here you know…." Lucas said as he tried to follow the conversation about him and what they were doing to him, and showing a little displeasure of not being talked to.

"Sorry about that Lucas," Glenn responded, giving the kid credit for speaking out. "You will feel a little sting, but that's all."

Glenn took the prepared syringe from his partner, and after swiping just inside the elbow, injected the pain relief without any problems. He applied a cotton ball and tape to stop the bleeding as soon as he withdrew the needle.

Tony had stepped back behind the rest of the crew at seeing the needle meant for his friend, and turned his back, not wanting a crowd of onlookers to be focusing on him instead of Lucas. He had always been squeamish around needles and had told Kristin just that when she had to stitch up the teenager's head injury.

"Hate needles……….," Lucas said as he coughed again, wanting to pull the mask away from his face.

"Me too, Lucas," the paramedic offered. "Lucas I want you to keep holding onto the Captain's hand there. Every now and then I am going to get him to squeeze your hand a little more tightly and ask if you are still awake and with me. Understand?"

Lucas nodded his head slowly, looking back at Bridger first and then the paramedic. He trusted the Captain would be there for him, no matter what.

"Now the helicopter can be fairly noisy, Lucas. So when you can't hear me talking to you but checking if you are still okay or wanting to know if you are feeling any more pain, I will squeeze your hand and I want you to squeeze back."

The paramedic gave the boy's left hand a short, but firm squeeze to demonstrate what the signal would feel like. Lucas did as he was asked and responded by squeezing back, although it wasn't very strong.

"Doing well, Lucas, your doing great."

Glenn watched the boy carefully for a few minutes, to see if there were any immediate adverse affects from the medication. When he was satisfied that it would take a few more minutes before helping with the pain, he turned back Kristin wanting to discuss with her the next step.

"How do you want to do this?" Glenn asked. "He needs to be moved, slowly of course to avoid jarring his ribs. I can bring in a stretcher if you like, but we may have trouble getting it back up the stairs," he voiced truthfully.

"No………no………..," Lucas said as he heard the word _'stretcher'. _ "I can………walk out of here………"

Kristin looked very dubiously at Lucas, and Bridger was shaking his head negatively. They knew that Lucas was normally a fiercely independent young man, but they didn't know if he could walk out of here like he was suggesting.

"Tell you what Lucas, I will let you do just that if I have the Captain here and myself on either side, just in case," Glenn compromised, happy to let the teenager have a little say in what was happening to him. At seventeen, he was almost an adult, but he wouldn't allow his patient to do anything that he thought would jeopardize their injuries further.

"Thanks," came the brief reply from Lucas. He was beginning to feel a little odd.

Although reluctant and worried about him, Kristin agreed to Lucas being allowed to walk from the hotel room if he could manage it. The upright position may help a little more with his coughing.

"Make sure you stay right beside him, Nathan," she said, but her voice had changed from one of a doctor to someone who was just concerned about the young man before her. Kristin couldn't help but feel her maternal instincts kick in when it came to Lucas.

* * *

Whilst the paramedics were packing away what they didn't need and prepared to leave with their patient, Bridger wanted to make sure that everything would be taken care of at the hotel once they left.

"Jonathan," the Captain called out to his second in command. But before he could ask anything, Ford spoke first.

"Don't worry Captain, everything is under control, Sir. The Medivac helicopter will fly Lucas directly to the U.E.O's private hospital. It isn't a particularly long flight and being a member of your crew, he will receive the best care they can give."

"We can clear up everything around here for you, Captain," O'Neill said as he came to stand beside Ford. "Miguel and Lonnie have volunteered to stay behind and make sure things are right.

Bridger was almost choked up for words at first as he looked back at the small gathering of his crew, knowing that they would do anything for him and Lucas, despite being on their own time. They really were like a close knit family sometimes.

"Thank you all, Kristin and I really appreciate it."

"Brody and I can talk to the police and see if anything needs to be done legally about Mr Sykes," Ford informed Bridger. "They may want to speak to Lucas eventually, but I can let them know not until they have Doctor Westphalen's permission and he feels up to it himself."

"That may take some time, Commander," Kristin said, hinting not only at Lucas being recovered physically enough o face what had happened, but also about the emotional rollercoaster that was probably going to play out over the microchip deal.

"Noted," Ford replied. "When we wrap up here, I will bring Brody, Piccolo and Dagwood back with us. There will be enough transports to take everyone else back to the SeaQuest.

"See you later Lucas, you take care of yourself now," Ford said to the teenager.

Ortiz and O'Neill bid goodbye to Lucas as well and received a brief "thank you" in return. They could see the tiredness on their youngest crew member. Lonnie went one step further and gave the young man a friendly peck on the cheek.

"Oh I hope I get one of those for free too, Henderson," Piccolo teased as he watched Lucas blush slightly with embarrassment at Lonnie's show of affection towards him.

"In your dreams, Tony," Henderson. "That's just for those who are in pain, not for people like you who are a pain." she taunted in return.

"Oh, how do you like that," Piccolo responded as the SeaQuest people in the room chuckled at the light-hearted banter between the two crew members.

"Dagwood hopes Lucas gets better soon," the large G.E.L.F. said in his usual almost shy manner.

"You can see him again real soon, Dagwood," Bridger promised.

"Okay, Lucas, ready to get out of here?" Glenn asked his patient, and pleased to see the teenager look up at him and nod accordingly. A grimace of pain escaped his lips once more.

Kristin wrapped one of the blankets around the teenager's shoulders as they prepared to let him stand up, Bridger and Glenn standing beside the couch ready to help if his step faltered.

"Nice and slow now," she encouraged.

Lucas used his arms to push himself to stand up, and almost sat back down as he had to adjust to the flexible cast on his foot once more. With the pain in his chest, the ache that had been in his foot had briefly been forgotten.

Lucas coughed as he drew in a lungful of air, immediately regretting that he had taken such a deep one. He closed his eyes for a moment as the pain begin to grow from the movement.

"Ready…….," he said softly to Kristin as the pain began to abate a little, giving her a small smile.

Glenn and Kristin exchanged knowing glances as they could see the pethidine clouded gaze, knowing they had to keep a good eye on him as they made their way to the helicopter. A fall at any stage could be disastrous if his ribs were truly broken.

"Tony…………," Lucas called out to his friend, his mind growing a little more foggy with each passing moment.

"Yeah, Luke," Piccolo answered, walking closer to his friend.

"Favour please……….," the boy stammered, his eyes feeling heavier by the minute.

"Name it," Piccolo responded.

"Darwin is just outside, and needs to come in," the teenager said, using his finger to point towards the back of the room.

It was clear to all present that Lucas wasn't thinking clearly, and was just a little more than confused about where he was.

"Sure, Luke," Tony said, looking at Bridger as he spoke, and seeing the amused look on the Captain's face.

"Check please, Aisle 4, and you better not bring any more wine to this table," Tony poked in fun as the crew chuckled slightly at the teenager's request.

* * *

"Let's go," Glenn said, wanting to get his patient to medical treatment as soon as possible.

Kristin and Bridger were both surprised as much as the paramedics at how well Lucas was doing as they exited the room and headed towards the stair case that would take them to the roof.

The group had paused for a moment as Lucas coughed again, waiting for him to give the signal that he was still okay to continue. The steps were slow, but continual.

"Doing okay there, Lucas?" Glenn asked, squeezing the teenager's hand at the same time.

Lucas squeezed back, but didn't speak, his face difficult to read due to a mixture of pain and tiredness. Kristin held onto the small oxygen cylinder that was still attached to the mask on his face.

At first, Lucas had brushed away hands that he could feel holding onto him on either side, wanting to prove to them that he could walk out of the room like he said. Even with the pethidine in his system, he was determined to do things his own way.

They now started to ascend the stairs very slowly, mindful that they had to be even more careful of a possible fall.

With each step, Bridger's worry increased as he could feel the trembling in Lucas's arm, and he was about to say something to Kristin and the paramedic. It wasn't necessary though as Glenn had seen it too and now both of them had a strong hand on him as they climbed.

By the time they had made it up the second dozen steps, Lucas's stamina had almost run out. His face was a shade or two paler and he was continually rubbing at his chest.

A door was opened that lead out onto the roof top and the waiting helicopter. Lucas could feel his legs turning into jelly, but he tried his best to show that he could still cope.

Bridger and Glenn were both relieved that they had a firm hand on the boy, as his sense of direction was becoming a little confused by the medication. The teenager had started to waver a little and his steps were becoming more unsteady with each one.

The second paramedic officer opened up the sliding door to the helicopter and placed their equipment back inside, stepping back to allow enough room for Glenn and the other man to help the patient get into the helicopter.

Lucas approached the chopper nervously. The rotors had not started yet, but the height of the step made him baulk a little. He lifted his good foot up, but gave a small gasp of surprise when both of his feet left the ground and he was lifted successfully inside by Glenn and Bridger.

He paused for a minute, before he heard Glenn talking to him, asking if he was still alright, "Okay there, Lucas?" the man said, after hearing the startled surprise from his patient.

"I don't know…………," he honestly said, his thoughts a jumble, and some pain creeping into his senses.

"Squeeze my hand, Lucas," Glenn asked, placing a firm hand on his shoulder and making the boy sit on the long bench seat.

Bridger helped as much as he could and was worried as well, but was relieved when he felt the soft squeeze in response to Glenn's question. He quickly told the paramedic that he had received the response from Lucas instead, but as Kristin climbed into the helicopter and helped adjust a safety harness around him, she noted how much the reaction time had slowed.

Within a few minutes, everyone was settled inside and the rotors of the helicopter began to spin, the second paramedic being the pilot. The noise was loud, and Glenn could no longer hear anything that Bridger was saying to him, but they all noted that even sitting down, Lucas was leaning heavily against the Captain's shoulder.

Just when Glenn was concerned that the boy was losing his battle with falling asleep, the quick jolt of the helicopter taking off and climbing in altitude forced the boy to open his eyes as he felt the pain flare in his ribs once more. The pethidine was still in his system, but even after this short time, seemed to be having less and less affect at starving off enough of the pain for Lucas.

* * *

During the fifteen minute ride to the UEO base hospital, Glenn had been forced to shake Lucas's shoulder twice, to check if the boy was still awake. Both times, he had opened his heavy eyes and given a wan smile, but he had been coughing on a couple of occasions and grimaced at the pain that still wouldn't leave him alone.

As the helicopter began landing on the helipad, a hospital team were waiting on the roof, with medical equipment and a stretcher nearby. They had been told that a patient was arriving with suspected broken ribs, but didn't know any further details.

There were two orderlies standing with the stretcher, a Doctor and one nurse, ready to offer assistance to the paramedics as soon as they touched down.

"You are almost there, Lucas," Glenn said as he opened up the door to the helicopter and the rotors began to slow down.

"Still……….. hurts," Lucas managed to whisper into Bridger's ear, his voice not loud enough for Glenn to hear, but the paramedic could see the discomfort and fatigue on his face and didn't need much of a recital.

Kristin exited first, still holding onto the oxygen cylinder close by. Bridger and Glenn already planned to do something similar to when they had lifted Lucas into the helicopter to get him down. This avoided putting any unnecessary weight on his cast and hopefully avoided jarring his ribs any further.

The hospital staff waiting were surprised to see their patient not on a stretcher, but getting out of the helicopter under his own power, even though he was receiving a lot of assistance from the paramedic and another man.

Glenn had asked him to stand up slowly once more so they could help him out the door, but he looked back up at them with a confused expression, as though not understanding what was needed. He didn't resist when he felt someone pulling him upwards and then the two sets of hands supporting him again.

The teenager's could feel his feet walking back on a hard surface for a few seconds, but his legs felt incredibly heavy and he didn't think he had the strength to lift them and make them to move forward.

By the now the noise of the helicopter had stopped and the hospital staff were waiting a short distance away.

"Captain…………," Lucas tried to call out, but it ended up being barely above a whisper.

"You okay there, Lucas?" Glenn asked, alarmed at how much paler the teenager was looking from even a few minutes earlier.

"Don't feel so good………………," the teenager managed to drawl out, leaning heavily against Bridger.

"Nathan!" Kristin cried out as she saw Lucas begin to crumple and fall towards the ground.

Bridger acted quickly enough to adjust his grip, as he looped a supportive arm around the young man's waist.

To Lucas himself, time seemed to be slipping away. He wanted to say something, but his mind was too foggy to form the words. He could feel himself falling, but couldn't do anything to stop it. He could no longer keep his eyes open, no matter how hard he tried.

"Lucas!" Bridger said as he tried to get the teenager to respond, tapping the side of his face.

Lucas never felt the two sets of hands that caught him and gently lowered him to the ground.

**almost finished:**

**Author Notes:**

**Okay – only little way to go. I have really enjoyed continuing this story, but there are others I want to write to, so time to begin wrapping this one up.**

**The medical stuff is a little drawn out and I tried to get it to sound better than it turned out – but it probably a little lame. The falling out the window scene didn't really have the impact that I was hoping for, but anyway.**

**I did do a little research, but please note the method of getting Lucas to the hospital was for the drama only – and they probably wouldn't do that with a real patient. My twisted sense of medical attention and all made up in my head, as is the procedures for paramedics – meant for entertainment purposes only.**

**The pethidine effects is from experience, except I had 2 shots at the same time instead of one some years ago – and the losing sense of direction as you are trying to walk and needing someone behind guiding you is from first hand experience under its effects.**

**I was going to originally just do the carrying out on the stretcher – patch him up and send him home – but as usual – no plan when I begin writing the chapter and it gets carried away on its own sometimes. **

**The medivac idea for just broken ribs was a bit over the top – so that is why I made it a UEO hospital rather than a normal one – so they would look after their own if necessary.**

**Lonnie's idea to kiss Lucas was corny I know – but just wanted to involve her instead of her just standing there.**

**The way I had Sykes take Lucas was supposed to happen completely differently when I first started this story – but again, when I write, it just comes out differently. I originally was going to have a swimming pool and both of them fall into it, but that had been done too many times in movies and so I scrapped that idea.**

**I tried to include Tony and Dagwood and the rest of the crew a little, but probably not enough in this chapter for anybody. I always liked the idea of Dagwood being protective over Lucas because of a few scenes in the actual show, so I play on that idea a little more in my stories when Dagwood is around.**

**I hope you were on the edge of your seat with the falling out the window idea – I originally wanted to end a chapter there – but like I said, wanting to wrap this story up now – hopefully the rest of the chapter is good enough to make up for that.**

**I did make a big error in who was present in this chapter – which usually goes against how I usually don't mix the first and second season characters, but once I had made the mistake, I couldn't change it – so that is just an error for this story.**

**Usually Crocker and Shan wouldn't appear with the second season crew. Kristin is the exception for all of my stories.**

**Only a little to go, including what happens to the microchip deal and seeing what is actually wrong with Lucas of course. A little more hurt/comfort, elfy, angsty stuff to come. **

**I hope you enjoy reading this chapter and I would like to hear your comments and reviews.**

**As far as updating my stories goes – working on more very soon – been writing a lot lately for various stories, old and new. And plenty of ideas to come and hopefully better writing from me.**

**If you want to see some of what I have planned, please see the upcoming titles on my profile page. Some of them I can't wait to write. And new scenes for all of them that you haven't seen yet.**

**Author at the moment has a broken toe from two days ago, but that shouldn't affect my hands from typing. I have no cast on my foot either. LOL**

**Jules**


	13. DARE TO DREAM

THE SECRET DEVICE

By Jules

In response to reviews:

kokomocalifornia – thank you for your kind review – last chapter for this story.

criminally charmed – Thanks for following this story and liking it – I have always liked the protective Dagwood scenario but haven't used it very much.

RHMichaud – your "edge of the seat" sitting is almost over – thank you for reading.

defrantz – it should have ended quite a while ago – but as is often the case with my stories – it had a mind of its own.

Lynnp – thanks for your review – I have so many story ideas – but finding the time to write is difficult. The ideas are constantly running around in my head though – so hopefully you will keep reading in the future.

starbuck2008 – thank you for sticking with the story – some days I think my chapters are getting longer and not shorter – I know that is definitely the case with the length of my stories – but hopefully you will still enjoy them enough to return and read some more. Lots of ideas to come.

teen13 – I did hurt Piccolo and Bridger a little in this story – which is highly unusual for me but that was a few chapters ago. Thank you for reading and reviewing.

Ihni – Hope you haven't looked too much at my profile page – because there are lots to come yet – so I hope they too will be stories that you like. Time to wrap this one up and onto finishing another.

T – thanks for your review – story wrapping up now – and reading to start chapter of another. Hope you like the ending.

Thanks for all of those people who read – this story should have been finished some time ago – but for various reasons wasn't – and the plot was extended quite a bit – but hope you enjoyed.

There are plenty of other stories to come for all my different fandoms – so thanks for your support up until now.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN – Dare to Dream

_**a quick recap from the last chapter:**_

By the now the noise of the helicopter had stopped and the hospital staff were waiting a short distance away.

"Captain…………," Lucas tried to call out, but it ended up being barely above a whisper.

"You okay there, Lucas?" Glenn asked, alarmed at how much paler the teenager was looking from even a few minutes earlier.

"Don't feel so good………………," the teenager managed to drawl out, leaning heavily against Bridger.

"Nathan!" Kristin cried out as she saw Lucas begin to crumple and fall towards the ground.

Bridger acted quickly enough to adjust his grip, as he looped a supportive arm around the young man's waist.

To Lucas himself, time seemed to be slipping away. He wanted to say something, but his mind was too foggy to form the words. He could feel himself falling, but couldn't do anything to stop it. He could no longer keep his eyes open, no matter how hard he tried.

"Lucas!" Bridger said as he tried to get the teenager to respond, tapping the side of his face.

Lucas never felt the two sets of hands that caught him and gently lowered him to the ground.

_**and now – the conclusion:**_

The medical team that had been waiting with the stretcher now hurried along side the young patient they had just seen collapse to the ground.

Bridger still had a strong arm wrapped around Lucas's waist as he lowered into a supine position on the ground, cushioning the teenager's descent. His face betrayed his fears as he worriedly looked back towards Kristin and then back to Glenn the paramedic.

"Lucas, can you hear me?" Glenn called out, trying to rouse the young man, gently using the palm of his hand to gain any kind of response. There was no reaction.

"Nathan, is he alright?" Kristin asked, her view of Lucas obscured by the two men kneeling beside him. It sounded like a stupid question, even as she heard the question uttered in her own voice. The noise from the helicopter was too loud and she was worried about her charge.

"Don't worry folks, he is going to be just fine," Glenn tried to assure them, seeing their tangible worry. "He has done the best he could up until now. He did great. Let's get him inside and checked out and make him more comfortable," he added, signaling to the medical staff that is was time to move the young man.

Kristin moved closer to the stretcher, making sure that the portable oxygen canister was close at hand, and watched as Bridger and Glenn, gently lifted Lucas's unconscious form and placed him on the stretcher. The medical staff secured him with straps around his upper thigh area, but didn't use the ones designed to go over the chest area.

They were mindful of the flexible cast that still adorned his lower leg as they lifted and positioned him, but the straps helped prevented Lucas from being jostled too much. With the very real possibility of broken ribs, they would have to be extremely careful until they knew for sure.

Glenn rattled off a few different medical terms and other statements to the medical staff, advising them of what had occurred since Lucas had become his patient and what his opinion was about his overall condition. He gave details on what injuries to expect and what the doctor's inside may need to check for.

A blanket was placed over Lucas and tucked in around him to maintain body heat. Within a few minutes, they were ready to begin moving him inside the UEO hospital. The wheels of the stretcher made a slight squeaking sound that was beginning to get on Bridger's nerves.

Nathan looked down at Lucas's face just in time to see him struggling to open his eyes. There was a small sliver of blue, though the effort was obvious. He had taken a hold of the teenager's hand and didn't intend to let go until they were inside and it became absolutely necessary.

"Lucas," Glenn said softly, pleased to see the boy, "don't worry, we are going to take great care of you now." He wasn't sure if his words were heard or not, or made any sense.

Lucas could briefly hear voices nearby, and tried to open his eyes, but upon doing so, shut them with a grimace of pain at the stabbing light that penetrated. He groaned audibly and tried to turn his face away. He wanted to roll onto his side, but when he tried to do so, the pain in his chest that had been burning earlier burst out of his lips in a low moan.

"Shhh," Kristin tried to soothe, "keep still, Lucas," she encouraged, running her hand through his hair, trying to prevent any sudden movement that would cause him more pain.

He tried to move, but his limbs felt uncoordinated and weighted down. He wanted to kick free from the restriction, but his brain felt clouded and he couldn't string together a coherent enough thought or sentence to get across what he needed. Lucas felt like the room was moving all around him. The light was too bright and constant, causing him to try and avoid it once more by turning his head.

The teenager was scarcely aware of the number of corridors the stretcher was wheeled down or how many fluorescent lights were overhead. He reached out with his hand, groping aimlessly for a second or two and trying to figure out what was happening to him. He briefly felt something cold and metallic before the warmth of someone else's hand enveloped his and he felt himself beginning to drift away from the real world once more.

Bridger saw the tenseness in Lucas's muscles as he started to come awake, clearly confused by the pain in his ribs and disorientated by the drugs in his system. He saw the young man reach out for the aluminum railing of the stretcher but placed his own hand over Lucas's instead, hoping the connection would prevent the panic within from growing.

Nathan felt the grip on his hand to begin with, but soon noted it was quickly losing strength. A quick glance towards Lucas's face saw the young man struggling to stay awake once more. He was fighting against the pethidine, but his features slackened as he lost the battle and his eyelids fluttered closed. This time they remained closed.

What had seemed like a long endless hallway from the helicopter, now saw them lead into an assessment and treatment room. There were all sorts of medical paraphernalia present, but the room itself was vacant and silent of hospital staff. Kristin and Nathan had been expecting to be lead into a busy emergency room, and looked back at Glenn questioningly when he stopped the stretcher.

"I will see if I can find someone fairly quickly and get them in here as soon as possible. I thought Lucas might appreciate the quiet for a minute or two," he quickly added, trying to be guided by what he knew of his patient. Since seeing the teenager back at the hotel, he sensed that the lack of noise may be beneficial.

"Tell them who I am, do whatever you have to," Bridger announced, having no qualms at all about using his rank and privilege if it helped get Lucas the treatment he needed sooner. He usually didn't like calling upon it, but was prepared to use it if he had to.

This was a UEO medical facility and from experience, he knew it could be a very busy place at times. There was a lot more happening than just the Navy's all star submarine the SeaQuest being on tour. Quite often there were a number of other vessels on maneuver as well as training courses.

Because their tours kept the SeaQuest away for extended periods of time, the vessel came fully equipped to cope with most medical emergencies that may occur onboard, thankfully most of the crew had not visited the hospital in any capacity.

The two medical attendants that had helped on the rooftop were now doing some basic medical checks on Lucas. Kristen kept a watchful eye on everything they did. Hurried introductions from the paramedics had taken place, but the focus remained on helping Lucas.

They had been surprised at Kristen's greeting as the patient's personal physician, but could see her unspoken need to be included as much as they would permit. They had experienced parents and family before who wanted a more hands on approach with their loved ones as they were treated.

When Kristin introduced herself as Doctor Westphalen, they recognized her name and position from U.E.O. personnel files and were aware of her expertise and only too glad to have her help with the young man. They both felt a little embarrassed at not having recognized her. She had worked at the facility for a brief time just before the SeaQuest's commission by Admiral Noyce.

Bridger had spoken to them also, introducing himself and saw the recognition of his name on their faces. There wasn't too many people working within the UEO that had not heard the name of Captain Nathan Bridger before even if only by reputation for being an efficient, but fair leader of a topnotch team.

All in the room were now satisfied that everything possible had been done with Lucas until the doctor arrived. With Kristen being in the room, the two medical attendants were confident enough that she would be able to monitor his progress.

They promised to advise the administration staff of Lucas's arrival and be nearby if any assistance was required.

* * *

"How long do you think we will have to wait?" Bridger asked as the two of them stood beside the stretcher, watching over the teenager.

"I am sure someone will be along any minute now," Kristin said, smiling a little to herself.

Bridger had young and impressionable young seaman who were awed just to serve under his command, but at times like this, when someone they both cared about deeply was injured, the strong and confident Captain was hastily shut away and the worried Nathan appeared.

"I hope he is not in too much pain," Nathan began to say, but in this private moment with just Kristin and Lucas present, he lost his composure a little, walking away from the stretcher and focusing elsewhere in the room. "I was so afraid for him in that hotel room," Bridger whispered, shuddering at the memory of Sykes holding a gun and using Lucas as a hostage.

"So was I," Kristin admitted, walking over to him and rubbed his upper arm reassuringly. Not for the first time she noticed how stubbornly Nathan fought to hold onto his defences. Just like a certain teenager.

Anybody who didn't know the Captain so well might have viewed it at weakness or a character flaw, but to the red-headed doctor, it was his real admission that he couldn't stand to see his family being hurt. She was aware of his self-loathing of his attempts at fatherhood with Robert, and knew he was determined more than ever that the relationship between himself and Lucas would never deteriorate to that level. It was a heavy chained burden that Bridger had worn for quite some time.

Neither of them felt the need to mention how they felt at the point of watching Lucas being pulled out of the window and seeing the desperate plea in his eyes to help him. Bridger gently kissed her hand and held it briefly, their eyes speaking everything they needed to say to each other.

A noise from the stretcher bed brought them out of their own thoughts and they were in time to see Lucas trying to move around once more.

"Stay still, Lucas," Bridger implored, trying to minimize the pain coming from the teenager's suspected broken ribs.

"Good Evening folks," a voice called from behind them, causing them to turn and see a tall thin middle aged man and a plump nurse by his side. "Doctor Mel Taylor on duty tonight. This is nurse Hettie Robinson."

"Thank you for coming, doctor," Bridger said, extending his hand in greeting, but a little startled when the man called him and Kristen by name.

"You are welcome, Captain. I have received some detailed information on your situation from a ………Commander Ford," the man said, glancing down at a clipboard folder that he currently held in his hand.

Bridger silently thanked his second-in-command for having taken the initiative.

"This must be Lucas," the man smiled kindly, handing the clipboard to the nurse as he approached the gurney and began taking a careful look at his young patient.

"Yes it is," Kristin spoke, giving him her opinion of his symptoms and what had happened to him medically since the hotel. She knew that the doctor would have been given some details from the paramedics, suspecting that Glenn would have been thorough in his report. "He had just begun to become restless again a few moments ago as you walked in."

"Certainly looks like he has had a hard time of it tonight," the doctor commented as he noted details of the bruising that was becoming more evident on his face. "Anything else you can tell me," he prompted, preferring to hear a first hand account of what had occurred.

Kristin looked at Bridger and then began a shortened version of what had transpired a few hours ago. She informed him about the hostage situation and gave her professional opinion on some of the injuries that Lucas may have sustained. She advised that there had been a period of time where the boy had been assaulted, but that they had been on the other side of a door.

Bridger had added about how Lucas had been viciously punched when they entered the room and then how another man had cruelly kicked him whilst lying on the ground. He was careful to omit names of the assailants where possible, knowing that the matter would probably be the subject of an internal UEO investigation as well as a police enquiry.

The doctor had been suitably shocked at the details that he was told, and used careful hands to inspect the damage without disturbing the young man too much. "Let's take him out of this room and get him down to x-ray as soon as possible. We can do one on his leg at the same time and make sure that those bones in his foot are still aligned."

"Once we know the extent of his injuries, we will treat him accordingly and make him comfortable. I suspect you may be right about the broken ribs," he relayed, pressing lightly on Lucas's left side and apologizing to the young man who gave a moan of pain in response.

"Doctor, I would like to be there if you have no objections. Not in an official capacity, but in case he wakes up and doesn't know where he is," Kristin informed the man.

"I think that would be fine, Doctor Westphalen," the doctor responded, using her title so that she would know that he would be more than happy for her to assist with Lucas's care where possible. Bridger and Kristin visibly relaxed for the first time since coming arriving in the helicopter and were more than grateful for the doctor's efforts.

Doctor Taylor turned to Bridger as the nurse and Kristin began detaching some of the monitors from Lucas and getting ready to move him. "Captain, this is probably going to take some time. Once we have him stabilized I would like to put him in a room on his own where he can rest undisturbed. I will keep you informed as much as I can."

Bridger nodded his head in acknowledgement of the doctor's words and watched as Lucas was once again on the move, being wheeled out of the room and on his way to x-ray his chest and leg.

Tonight had been meant to celebrate Lucas's new partnership and acknowledge his genius and talent, but somehow within a short period of time it had all turned pear shape. Everything from the location of the party, to the security details had been botched and the teenager had paid the price, literally.

Not only had he been humiliated in front of these so-called new investors by Collins, but he had been forced to hear some distasteful rumours about how some people viewed someone as young as himself. The comments about Lawrence had come from absolutely nowhere, but the impact no less painful.

Even after these few years where Bridger had changed the boy's opinions of himself and his worth to others, any mention of Wolenczak senior dredged up memories that refused to stay in his past.

'Lucas, somehow we will fix all of this mess.'

* * *

Knowing that there was some time on his hands, Nathan made his way to the administration desk to check that everything was in order for Lucas's admission. He was under no assumption that with the injuries the teenager had sustained that he would be staying for at least tonight. How long after that was yet to be decided.

It was different from a few years ago when Lucas had been admitted to hospital and he had struggled to fill out even the basic information on Lucas's background. Now he was a little more familiar and knew which boxes to tick and what history to give.

From the administration desk, Bridger used the elevator to go down two floors to the hospital cafeteria, grabbing a hot cup of coffee and sitting down at the first table available. With Kristin helping to take care of Lucas, he started to let out the breath he had been holding in since this mess all began. He was beginning to feel a little weary and was grateful for the caffeine injection and the chance to rest aching joints.

A voice from behind startled him out of his thoughts about how Lucas was going.

"Nathan?"

Bridger turned to see the friendly but puzzled face of his long time friend, Bill Noyce. He greeted him with a hand-shake and motioned for the Admiral to join him at the table. Noyce grabbed his own coffee and did just that.

"What are you doing here?" Bridger asked.

"The question is what are you doing here, Nathan?" Noyce retorted in jest, but at seeing the pinch of tiredness around the eyes, knew that something serious had happened. He also knew that there were very few times that his friend let down his guard like he was doing now.

"Lucas?" Bill asked carefully already suspecting the answer.

"Kristin is up there with him and the doctor now, Bill," Bridger found himself explaining. "This was supposed to be one of the best nights of his life, and it has turned into one big chaotic bungle," showing his frustration by let the teaspoon fall loudly onto the ceramic plate beside him.

Noyce didn't respond, knowing that his friend would give a full account of what had happened in his own time if he remained patient enough. Bridger didn't take long to give the Admiral a shortened version of the story, much as Kristen had done for the doctor back upstairs.

The Admiral was a little surprised at the of the seriousness of the situation that his premiere crew found themselves up against, given that they were not currently on active duty. What didn't shock him was the professionalism of the various team members as Bridger went on to explain how the hostage scenario had played out and Ford's leadership abilities towards the end of it all.

From the sound of it, more than one member of the crew was willing to step up to the plate and help out as much as possible as he gathered information about the involvement of Brody, Henderson, O'Neill, Ortiz and even seaman Piccolo.

"I am sure that the doctors and nurses upstairs will take good care of Lucas, Nathan," Noyce said, noting that his friend's mind was no longer in the mood to play the "why for reason" game or even looking to place blame.

"You let me know if Lucas, you, or Kristin need anything from here, Nathan," the Admiral said, standing up and preparing to leave. "Let me know how Lucas is fairing as soon as you can.

"Sure," Bridger responded, knowing that Bill had always had a soft spot for the teenager.

Noyce wanted to add, 'and take care of yourself too Nathan', but decided to err on the side of caution, suspecting that the suggestion may not go over particularly well as it was intended.

Nathan was just about to get up to replenish is cup of coffee after the Admiral left when he was approached by Commander Ford, Piccolo and Dagwood.

"Commander," Bridger acknowledged verbally, nodding his head towards Tony and Dagwood in greeting.

"Everyone else has headed back to SeaQuest now, Captain. The local police have everything under control back at the hotel, so our services were no longer required."

"How's Luke doing?" Piccolo asked, barely waiting for Ford to give his report on the official duties that needed to be performed.

"At the moment, I know about as much as you," Bridger answered truthfully, but proceeded to elaborate a little bit further as seeing the confused look on the three faces in front of him, "Kristin is up there with him now. We had to wait for the doctor."

Tony could sense that something had happened though since the helicopter had taken off from the hotel, "Want to share?" he asked straightforwardly. He wasn't a subtle person and didn't pretend to be, nor have patience when it came to finding out about friends when they were in a hospital.

Bridger must have been too tired to note the abrupt manner of his questioning, but Commander Ford certainly noted the curt address to the Captain and was about to call Piccolo on it. The way he spoke to superior officer's left a lot to be desired. Bridger spoke before the dark-skinned man could utter his disapproval to the seaman.

"Lucas was doing alright up on the roof when we first arrived. Not great, but okay considering the beatings he took, how he was emotionally, not to mention the drugs that were in his system."

"But….," Piccolo prompted once more, earning him another sharp glare from Ford.

Ford didn't bring up the subject further, knowing that Piccolo's friendship with the young genius was strong, and that he cared a lot for the teenager as they all did. There was a time when the friendship Lucas shared with former Lieutenant Ben Krieg was equally as strong, if not more so. Ben would have been asking the Captain the same set of questions.

"He had tried to stay awake for the entire journey but it all became a bit too much. When we got him out of the helicopter he collapsed."

"Collapsed!" Ford repeated thinking like Bridger that Lucas had been doing fairly well physically back at the hotel.

"Lucas get better," came the comment from Dagwood, the others not fully grasping if it was a general statement or a question.

"Maybe it is better if you all head back to the SeaQuest for now," Bridger suggested. I have no idea how long they are going to be, but probably a while with x-rays and other tests. I will contact you there as soon as I have any news.

Tony was about to argue the point, but could see the weariness in his Commanding Officer and decided not to press the point just yet.

"I will come back first thing in the morning with some of his stuff," Piccolo offered, thinking that the Captain would not turn him away if he was doing Lucas a service.

"That would be great. Just a spare change of clothes and the basics for now," Bridger responded.

"Do you require anything, Captain? Or Doctor Westphalen?" Ford enquired.

"A whole lot of things actually Jonathan," the Captain replied, thinking of things such as luck, a prayer or two and a dash of patience. Somehow he sensed that the next few days were going to be rough for them, but most of all Lucas.

"I will wait to hear from you, Sir," Ford acknowledged, his facial expression telling Nathan that he understood what the man was trying to say without so many words.

"Come on Dag, let's go back to the SeaQuest," Tony announced, slapping the larger man heartily on the back.

"Dagwood hungry. You promised we could eat, Tony," Dagwood accused lightly.

Nathan smiled a little at man's honesty when he spoke, and not being afraid to call Piccolo on something he had said or promised earlier. He suspected that these two friends would be play a key role in helping Lucas overcome his emotional stress from the past few weeks once he was released from the hospital.

"You heard the man, seaman," Bridger ordered casually.

"He only ate like two hours ago. Cleaning up some of the dishes that were left on the buffet table in the dining room," Tony groused, thinking it was virtually impossible for the larger man to be hungry again in such a short period of time. He had made the light-hearted promise about dinner without thinking Dagwood saw it as gospel.

"Goodnight," Bridger said to all as the trio ambled out of the hospital cafeteria.

Finding himself with only his own company once more, Bridger started to think it might be time to return back up to where he had been earlier and make some whispered enquiries about Lucas. Surely Kristin and the doctor had been able to assess the teenager by now.

He entered the elevator and hit the appropriate button, but as the door's closed, remembering the scene back at the hotel where Lucas had been forced into the elevator by Sykes with a gun to his head.

* * *

_**whilst Bridger was in the hospital cafeteria:**_

Being late at night, when the doctor and nurse rolled Lucas into the x-ray department, they were greeted with silence and an empty room, much as it had been in the assessment and treatment room.

The doctor went about setting up the x-ray slides that he would need and prepared the machine. The nurse went to the wall and flicked the relative light switches, bathing the room in bright white light. It was the trigger for Lucas to begin showing signs of waking once more.

"Lucas?" Kristin called softly, running her hand down his arm gently, trying to reassure him that he was safe. Waking in a strange sterile environment would cause some anxiety. "Can you hear me?"

At first she thought he had only made a noise in reaction to the bright light overhead, and wasn't expecting much from him. To her surprise though, eyelids slowly fluttered open and she gave him a genuine warm smile of encouragement.

"You are going to be just fine," she promised, see the confused and puzzled expression on his tired face.

"H…spl?" came the slurred half query as he tried to look to either side and judge for himself where he was.

"Yes, you are, but just lie still there for a few minute and let the doctor take care of you," she said, keeping her hand on his arm in case he tried to move in too much of a hurry.

"Why not you?" came the question after a few minutes as Lucas tried to get the sentence in right order in his head before uttering the words.

Kristin had to think for a minute about what he was asking, "Oh, you mean why am I not doing the doctoring this time around?"

Lucas didn't trust his voice for a second coherent sentence and nodded his head in the affirmative. Kristin had taken care of his health and medical needs for quite a while now, and her touch over the years had become familiar and soothing when he wasn't feeling so great.

"This time around, I am just going to stay and keep you company," Kristin answered, thinking Lucas might be drifting back to sleep as his eyes fluttered closed and he sighed audibly.

"Captain?" he said, trying to sit up in a hurry, somehow even with his addled thoughts, sensing that someone was missing from the room. The man was usually by his bedside when he was sick or injured, for the years he had spent on SeaQuest anyway.

Forgetting briefly about what had happened and thinking that Kristin might have been there because something was wrong with Bridger. He remembered brief flashes of talking to someone named Glenn, but for the moment, the rest of the events tonight seemed to be a bit of a blur.

Lucas had to take a sharp intake of breath at the sudden movement, surprised at the pain that jabbed him sharply in the chest. He closed his eyes and brought a hand to his head, trying to rub away at the slight dizziness that he was feeling.

"Stay still, Lucas," Kristin lightly admonished, "Nathan is just fine. Worried about you."

"Okay, already to go now young man," the doctor announced as he approached the bed.

Lucas startled a little at hearing the second voice in the room, his eyes were closed, but he hadn't been able to fall back to sleep. The growing pain in his side had made itself much more noticeable and he keep having to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from crying out and admitting just how much he hurt.

"I will give you something for the pain soon," the doctor informed him, noticing the pinched lines on his young face. "I am sorry to have to cause you more discomfort."

Lucas opened his eyes and looked at the man, 'Just do what we have to and get it over with' he said with a dejected glance. He grimaced as Kristin slowly assisted him into a seated position. The pain was now more constant and getting harder to ignore or block out.

For the next twenty minutes, the doctor, nurse and Kristin maneuvered Lucas towards the x-ray machine and laid and coaxed him into position to take the first necessary picture. He tried as much as possible to distract himself by looking about the room, and thinking of something else, but with his mind still too foggy from the pethidine, it wasn't so easy.

Another sharp stab of pain that caught him off guard, and Lucas couldn't bite back the rebuke before he spoke, "Are we almost done?" His voice sounded petulant and like a disappointed child, but lacked the strength that he was trying to convey.

"Sorry Lucas, I know this is not any fun for you," the doctor apologized. It was the pain talking and he could see fatigue starting to set in on the young man's features.

Lucas wrapped an arm around his chest in an attempt to try and massage away at the near constant ache in his ribcage. He didn't want to hear anymore about his injuries or about what they were going to do. He just wanted to get out of here and lie down, somewhere preferably soft and with a pillow. His eyes felt gritty and full of sand.

"We just have to check on your leg, then we can let you rest," Kristin said, rubbing his back soothingly, seeing the tiredness but also the firm point of admit very little weakness in front of this new doctor.

Although his avoidance of direct questions when it came to sickness or injuries not being totally unusual, somehow tonight was different. Almost like there was most to this story than Lucas was willing to share. A shared questioning look from the doctor caused her to silently ponder his latest behaviour.

In pain or not, she could have sworn that he was almost holding something back. The x-rays would no doubt give then the confirmation about the condition of his ribs, but it didn't give her any further insight into what else was causing him to close in on himself.

"All done, Lucas, you can hop back up on that bed there. I am going to give you a little needle for the pain, and then take a look at your negatives," the doctor informed him. The physician had omitted the part of hoping the pain relief would allow the young man to relax enough to get some rest.

Lucas went to get off the bed of the x-ray machine, but almost stumbled, his face turning an embarrassing shade of red as he felt hands supporting him under the arms and leading him back to the bed. It was only a short distance, but the teenager felt strange and the dizziness was gaining momentum.

The doctor laid the teenager on his left side, to avoid putting any pressure on the right hand side of his ribcage. Lucas immediately brought his knees up a little, sounds and sensations swirling around him. The lights were too bright, forcing him to close his eyes, and the voices were beginning to sound further away.

"Just a small sting now," the nurse forewarned as she took the prepared syringe from the doctor and administered the injection.

"Ow," came the whispered indignant response.

Lucas began to feel a little strange, his muscles losing their co-ordination. His limbs were beginning to feel like wet noodles and his head was growing a little more clouded.

"C-cold," the teenager mumbled.

By the time Kristin brought the blanket up over his shoulders, Lucas appeared to be drowsing. He was a little restless and the occasional grimace of pain, but the medication had yet to take full effect. She smoothed the hair off his forehead and smiled down at the almost peaceful face.

He was relying on her to be there for him, and she wasn't about to show how scared she had been for him. So far he had put up such a brave front since this whole micro-chip debacle had started and she couldn't undermine that inner strength by given into that fear.

For a moment or two she felt the anger in her begin to grow at what had occurred tonight and how badly Lucas had been treated. The doctor had seen the slightly reddened eyes, but before he could ask if Kristin was alright, she forced her smile and calm exterior to return as she responded to a moan and brief sigh from Lucas as he settled into a slightly deeper state of sleep.

* * *

Bridger was waiting by the nurse's reception desk, hoping to hear news about how Lucas was doing when Kristin and the doctor came around the corner, wheeling the slumbering teenager.

"Let's get him settled into room 312A nurse, and then I can take another look at those x-rays and carry out any treatment. I was going to take him back down to the assessment room to do that, but I see no reason to disturb him anymore than we have to," the doctor spoke.

The room as it turned out was a large private one, and it was quite spacious inside and full self-contained with its own bathroom and shower facilities. Kristin and Bridger were quite impressed and grateful that the doctor's promise of a quiet and private room were being adhered to.

The nurse and Kristin went about settling the bed closest to the monitor board in the room. For now they were only going to monitor his heart rate and breathing as a precaution. The young man seemed to be in fairly good health apart from his current injuries, so the doctor didn't think an I.V. was required at this stage.

Kristin attached the little peg clamp to Lucas's index finger, and rested it gently back on top of the blanket. It would be checked and recorded every few hours to begin with. The teenager's breathing was a little raspy sounding, though she didn't know if it was caused by the lingering pain his body was feeling or due to a more serious injury to his ribs.

Bridger and Kristin soon joined the doctor a short distance away near a viewing screen where the x-ray negatives could clearly be seen and examined in more detail. The Captain saw Lucas's medical file on a mobile table.

The doctor was fairly silent at first as he seemed to look carefully at the negatives, back towards Bridger and Kristin and then back to the x-ray's again. He was concentrating on what appeared to be a few smudged areas.

The Captain could work out the basic outline of the skeletal frame and where everything was, but not much more. Kristin could read the negatives as well as the doctor, and her face appeared to be a little more closed off to Bridger.

Doctor Taylor looked back at both of them, trying to find the right words to start with, "Well, I can say with a little certainty that the damage whilst present is not as bad as perhaps you might have thought."

"That's good right?" Bridger said, his shoulders relaxing a little. He looked back around to see Lucas still lying very still in the bed, bathed in a blue hue from the monitor screen nearby.

"Lucas has a fracture in this rib here," the doctor pointed out, the rib on the right hand side and lower in the chest. "Can you tell me how much force might have been used?"

"No, not really. We heard him yelling from the other side of the door for the men holding him to leave him alone. Shortly after we were able to break through the door, one of the men punched Lucas hard in the stomach, causing him to fall to the floor," Bridger explained, wishing he could skip rehashing this up when it was still too fresh in his mind to contemplate for too long.

"While he was down on the floor, the other man kicked him with a boot," Kristin filled in, seeing Nathan clench his fist as he reheard how Lucas had been deliberately hurt.

"Luckily the piece of bone is still pretty much in place as long as there is no harsh jarring or movement. Once we have the ribs strapped securely, it should begin to heal nicely."

The doctor was looking back at the x-rays intently again, running his finger close to the fractured rib he had pointed to. "I hate to bring this up……….," he began, not knowing how else to brooch the subject.

"Do you people know about this young man's medical history?"

Bridger was about to demand what was the man trying to get at, when a light bulb went off in his head. He had filled out that he was the legal guardian of Lucas on the forms.

"Lucas is my adopted son," Bridger clarified, "He has been living with me, Kristin and the rest of my crew aboard a submarine for the past 4 years because of what his real father did to him."

"If you are trying to ask do we know about the previous beatings and injuries that he has received, then yes we have," Kristin added, seeing the question. She knew he was only doing his job as a proper doctor and health professional, but it hurt nonetheless to know that the misguided accusation and questions often came to them first.

"Can we not get into that part of his past now, please," Bridger implored, his level of frustration growing a little.

"I think the reason this rib here broke is because of the calcification that has taken place. If you look here, you can see the slight discolouration in the x-ray. That particular area would have been a little weaker than others because of the previous break," Taylor explained.

"Ribs are usually fairly flexible, especially in someone as young as Lucas, but where they tend cause problems is along here," the doctor continued, pointing to where the bone curved and contoured to form the shape of the chest.

Kristin considered the x-ray as he did, trying to remove her emotional attachment to the patient and giving an unbiased and professional look at it and coming to a similar conclusion. There were a number of small areas of discolouration in various positions on Lucas's ribcage. A blow to any one of those areas may have resulted in the rib being more brittle or susceptible to injury.

The smudges were spread out in such a manner to indicate that some were received at approximately the same time frame as others, whilst others were older. Some were more severe breaks that others.

"We appreciate your concern Doctor Taylor, and honesty. Please don't mention any of this to Lucas, as he has already taken one too many knocks about being associated with his father today. You will note that there is an extensive history of what has taken place in that file there, if you feel it necessary to read it."

"Apart from this broken one, the one directly below it appears to be cracked. It may not have received the full force of the blow, or faired better for not having been damaged earlier," Doctor Taylor diagnosed. "I am fairly sure that we are going to see some extensive bruising along here," he continued, running his index finger along the affected area on the negative.

Moving over to the second x-ray of the injured leg, the doctor spoke once more, "Fortunately from the description of the injury that you explained earlier Kristin, there doesn't appear to be much damage to his foot on this occasion. I would have expected to see more inflammation around those smaller bones, but there is not."

"For now, I suggest we wrap his chest as tightly as possible and give those ribs a chance to heal. It might take up to three weeks before he can move without feeling any discomfort. I will prescribe a mild antibiotic to begin with and a fairly strong painkiller."

"The SeaQuest where we live for the majority of the year is fully equipped medically and I can arrange any medication that you request," Kristin informed him.

"I want to keep an eye on him closely tonight, and probably up until later in the day tomorrow, but after that, we can discuss any further treatment and where that is to take place," the doctor stated.

"Can I ask you to assist me and my nurse in wrapping those ribs, Kristin?"

"Absolutely," Kristin affirmed, "Nathan you may want to stay close as well. He may wake once we lift him and he may try and move around too much and cause more problems."

"Doctor Westphalen if you and the nurse can lift Lucas carefully into a sitting position, then I will be able to wrap the ribs a little easier," Taylor suggested.

Everyone in the room was hoping that the drugs in Lucas's system would be strong enough to keep him sleeping through much of the procedure. It soon became clear that they were underestimating the teenager's body to fight against them and the medication.

"I may not be able to salvage the shirt," Taylor forewarned, taking a pair of scissors and preparing to cut the garment away from the boy's upper body. "This will cause Lucas the least amount of pain."

"Do whatever you have to, it's just a shirt," Bridger answered, not even giving it a second thought.

Carefully and gently as they could, Kristin and the nurse placed supportive hands behind Lucas's back and began lifting him into a half-seated position. Bridger stood by, wanting to help, but thinking that another pair of hands may only be getting in the way of the trained medical staff.

With a few well placed cuts with the scissor blades, and the shirt fell away in three large pieces of fabric. All of them unable to take their eyes away from the significant bruising that was now beginning to emerge on Lucas's chest area. Some of the bruising was dark and angry looking, particular near the area where Taylor had indicated the rib was broken.

'It's lucky that guy is already dead,' Bridger swore to himself , keeping a clenched jaw as he tried to control his anger at somebody who would deliberately raise a hand to Lucas like this. Or a boot for that matter.

The teenager's eyes were closed, and he appeared to be out of it as the doctor cautiously took a first-hand look at the bruising. Although he had predicted it with the x-rays, it was certainly more extensive than even he had guessed it might be.

A few probing fingers brought the first moan of pain from Lucas since falling asleep. A quick look at his face saw his brow come together in a frown, the medication keeping his mind pliable as well as his body. But part of him sensing that something was causing him pain.

"C-cold," he mumbled softly, his skin reacting to the absence of his shirt.

Lucas never spoke again, as the doctor quickly set about tapping up his ribs. It was a slow process, having to make sure that the piece of rib was still in position as he worked. His patient had offered a few more low moans of pain, but didn't fully wake.

"The bruising may become worse over the next day or so, but by the day after tomorrow we should see the worst of it," the doctor explained to Bridger as he finished up. "He is going to be one stiff and sore boy for a few weeks, there is no doubt about that."

"Thank you for everything you are doing," Bridger said in gratitude, seeing that the doctor was being as gentle as he could and explaining as much as he could about was happening to Lucas.

"Nurse, once I am finished here, I will leave you two ladies here to help get the patient changed into a pair of hospital pajamas," Taylor said in a low voice.

The doctor lead Bridger away from the bed, confident that between the Nurse and Kristin, they would be able to make Lucas that much more comfortable. They would finally be able to leave him alone for a couple of hours and sleep undisturbed.

"I assume that you intend to stay for the remainder of tonight?" the doctor asked, noting how early into the morning the time now was.

"I don't want to leave him in here alone," Bridger replied, hoping that the doctor would get the subtle message that there was no way he would be leaving Lucas.

* * *

The doctor spoke quietly to Bridger for a few more minutes, mostly about general symptoms that he would be looking for over the next few days in his young patient. Nathan made a mental note of some of them, but knew that Kristin would already know what to look for.

The curtain had been drawn around the bed to allow Lucas a little privacy as Kristin and the nurse removed his outer clothing and replaced them with pajamas. Between the two of them they made short work of the task at hand, and with the medication, Lucas made only a couple of involuntary noises of protest.

Thankfully the medication had taken away the majority of the pain, leaving only a heavy dense cloud of sleep in Lucas. His breathing was still audible and sounded a little harsh.

"All finished," Kristin whispered to Nathan as Nurse Robinson pushed back the curtain. She gave a kind smile to the two adults in the room and a fond look towards the young patient. She checked once more that the blanket covering him was secure and in place.

"Please let me know if you need anything," the nurse spoke quietly, leaving the room.

"Gee that was fast," Bridger praised their quick efforts, joining Kristin beside the bed.

"This isn't fair to him," Kristin said softly after a few moments of silence between them. Both of them grateful that Lucas had been rescued and was now safe.

"I have already asked myself all of those questions tonight while I was downstairs in the cafeteria," Nathan responded, wrapping a reassuring arm around her shoulders.

"The doctor said he was going to make the arrangements for a room for us on one of the other levels if you need to rest," Bridger told her. "They have some quarters set aside for families and personnel in case the need to be here."

"That's nice, Nathan, but I am not leaving him in here on his own," Kristin answered, giving him a firm look but thanking him for caring about her needs with a small smile.

"I already told Doctor Taylor that," Nathan chuckled, knowing that Kristin's frame of mind would not be far from his own. It would be fair to say that both of them felt a little guilty at not having been able to protect Lucas more from being hurt.

"Did you want some coffee or something from the cafeteria?" Bridger asked dragging two large visitor chairs as close as he could towards the bed.

"No, not right now thanks," Kristin replied, taking the seat closest to Lucas and smoothing the blanket over him as he slept. His face was calm, relaxed.

Bridger sat down in the chair beside her, squirming for a minute as he tried to get comfortable, "Boy they sure don't want to sit down in these for very long," he commented casually.

"How is Commander Ford going over at the hotel, have you heard?" Kristin asked, keeping her voice low to avoid waking Lucas. With the medication their probably wasn't much chance of that, but she was beginning to feel tired and worn out too. Letting herself come down from the adrenaline high that had lasted for the last couple of hours.

She knew that Nathan would be feeling pretty much the same too.

"He turned up with Dagwood and Piccolo when you were in X-ray with Lucas. Said that the local authorities were handling the remaining loose ends. Everyone else had already headed back to SeaQuest."

Kristin nodded her head in acknowledgement, brushing away a few wispy strands of red hair that had worked themselves loose during the night, "They are all probably anxious to hear how Lucas is doing."

"Why don't you head down to one of the conference phones and let them know. You would be better at explaining the medical parts than me," Bridger urged. "I will stay here with Lucas and keep him company until you get back."

"May as well. Cannot see myself sleeping for a little while yet. I will bring back some breakfast for you," Kristin offered in compromise. "The nurse won't be checking on him for another hour or so."

Kristin stood up and looked down at Lucas for a moment, not wanting to disturb his rest, but at the same time, wanting to reach out and touch him. She settled for a few strokes of her hand through the blond hair on his forehead,

whispering to him that she wouldn't be gone long.

"Keep a close eye on him?" she said pausing before heading to the door.

"You know I will," Bridger promised, moving to her now vacant chair.

* * *

Kristin knew it was still very early morning and almost waited a few more hours before contacting the SeaQuest. She was a little surprised to be greeted by the faces of the familiar faces of those crew members who had attended Lucas's celebratory dinner.

"I thought you all would have been catching up on sleep by now," she said, opening the conversation casually.

"We just felt that we owed it to Lucas to hear how he was doing before that, Kristin," Ford spoke on everyone's behalf.

"Luke going to be okay?" Piccolo asked plainly, fiddling with a nearby chair to cover his concern.

"For the moment he is sleeping," Kristin informed them, "By the time we finished all the tests on him, he was exhausted and the doctor gave him something to allow him to rest undisturbed for the next few hours," she explained.

"He has one confirmed broken rib and the one beneath it is cracked. Probably from when he was kicked. For the next few days, he is going to be extremely uncomfortable and tired. After that I can't say. We just have to take this one day at a time for the immediate future."

Those present from the SeaQuest were a little lost for words as to what to say. They hated the idea of their crewmember being in pain and were angry that they hadn't been able to do more to prevent it.

"Commander, you will have to see to the altering of the duty roster for the next few weeks, as Lucas is going to be restricted to very light duties once released from the hospital. We have to watch him carefully for any signs of infection, damage to his lungs and generally keep him from doing anything too physical."

"The roster won't be a problem, Doctor," Ford stated, "Between us we should be able to work around Lucas entirely, but no doubt Lucas is going to object to being taken off duty all together."

"He won't have much of a choice to begin with once he gets back to the SeaQuest. No doubt he will require some fairly strong painkillers that will cause drowsiness. He may become a little irritable at the lack of activity, but it is for his own good. If he has a fall or does too much too soon, whilst his ribs are still healing, he could be in all sorts of trouble," Kristin relayed.

"When can we go see him?" Piccolo blurted out.

Kristin knew that the seaman was worried about his friend, but she erred on the side of caution, keeping Lucas's best interests and welfare utmost in her mind.

"For the moment, let's see what kind of frame of mind he is in when he does wake up, Tony," Kristin responded.

After the roller-coaster of emotion that he was on at the hotel, not to mention the pain and general disorientation, he may want some breathing space."

"Yeah, those goons didn't exactly make it easy on him," Tony reluctantly agreed.

"I need to get back to Lucas and Nathan, but I thought you all deserved to know."

"No sweat, Doc," Piccolo finished, standing back a little more from the video screen.

"When Lucas decides he is up to visitors again, he may be wanting some clothes and other personal items," Kristin preempted.

"We will be in contact later today then," Ford stated, "Give our regards to Lucas and the Captain."

Kristin disconnected the call after saying goodbye, thoughts running through her head about what the next few days might bring for them all.

_**whilst Kristin was talking to the SeaQuest crew:**_

Bridger sat close to Lucas's bed, watching him, knowing that there was little he could do at the moment except to let him sleep. That didn't help how he felt about tonight though. How inadequate he had felt while watching Lucas being held as a hostage in front of Sykes.

Of course his trained crew had been terrific, but that didn't stop the knotted feeling he still had low in his gut about what could have happened from when Lucas was forced into the elevator downstairs, to when the gun was being cocked and held to his temple.

"Didn't turn out quite the way we planned tonight, did it Lucas," he said quietly, playing idly with the blanket on the bed, talking to himself more than the sleeping figure in the bed.

A few moments later, Kristin re-entered the room, treading silently across to the chair beside Nathan, "Everything alright?"

"Not a peep out of him since you left," Bridger commented, "Not much of a conversationalist tonight either," he joked, admitting that he had tried talking to the teenager even though his audience was asleep.

"Let's hope that keeps up for a few more hours," Kristin returned, settling herself in the large uncomfortable chair and yawning a little at the earliness of the morning.

"Why don't you go and get some sleep yourself in the room they have prepared for us?" Nathan prodded.

"And you?" Kristin said, looking back at him in challenge.

"Staying right here," Bridger admitted, though he could feel tiredness creeping up on him as well.

"Well then, I guess that makes two of us then," Kristin said, having no intentions of leaving again.

* * *

Approximately thirty minutes later and both Bridger and Kristin had managed to doze off while keeping vigil over their young charge.

The nursing staff had not returned as yet to do any vitals monitoring, though the teenager was showing signs of restlessness and stress. Mumbling a little in his sleep and tossing his head back and forth on the pillow.

Lucas couldn't remember what had happened or where he was. His head felt heavy and clouded as he tried to get a clear thought into his head.

Then all of a sudden he remembered snippets. Of being forced at gunpoint somewhere. He couldn't recall where they went, but several dark faces invaded his subconscious and he could hear a demanding voice echoing in his brain.

The voice wanted something, but he couldn't tell this person. Then pain erupted in his stomach and he felt himself wrapping his arms around his middle. On the hospital bed, Lucas began moving around a little more, bringing his legs up towards his chest, but groaning a little at the discomfort that was present.

Lucas frowned a little more as scenes began replaying in his mind. His movements on the bed increased a little, but had yet to disturb Bridger or Kristin as they slept nearby.

The faces and the voices became more familiar to him and the teenager began to mumble a little in his sleep, "No……. I won't…….No," to the angered questions that were being hurled at him.

"I won't tell you……….," he blurted out a little more loudly, this time the sound of his voice waking the Captain.

"Lucas?" Bridger said, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, uncertain if it had been the boy who had awoken him. He admonished himself a little for having fallen asleep so easily. It wasn't until Lucas began talking again that he leaned over closer towards the bed and saw the youth moving around underneath the blanket.

"H-help……..," Lucas stammered, his breathing audible and his voice as though panicked and frightened. His hands escaped from the restrictions of the sheets and he waved them in front of him, as though warding of an unseen assailant.

"Wake up, Lucas," Bridger said, putting a gentle hand on his shoulder, hoping his touch would be enough to bring him out of the bad dream he was having.

The hand did have an effect, but not a good one, as Lucas shouted out again, "NO!" his voice loud enough to startle Kristin, who joined Nathan in trying

to calm him down.

"How long has he been like this?" Kristin said, on full alert and her medical knowledge coming to the forefront.

"Only a minute or two. I hear him call out and he was restless," Bridger explained, using a little more pressure with his hand and calling the teenager's name several times in an attempt to wake him.

Kristin and Bridger were distracted momentarily, as the night-time nurse entered the room, ready to perform her vital checks on the patient. She was surprised to see the two adults leaning over the youth, trying to wake him.

"Is he alright?" she said, approaching the bed, worried that she might have to scurry off and find the doctor on duty. Perhaps he was having a reaction to the medication he had been prescribed a few hours earlier.

"NO!........Get away…….," Lucas shouted with a little more determination, this time, waking himself with his voice and pulling his upper body into a half-seated position. This sudden movement though caused him to gasp out loud and forget all about what he was remembering and focus entirely on the pain that was erupting in his chest.

"Whoa!, take it easy, Lucas," Bridger said, putting a gentle, but firm restraining hand on the young man and preventing him from trying to get up any quicker and causing more pain.

"Relax, Lucas, you have some broken ribs, and need to rest as much as possible," Kristin said in her best doctor voice.

Upon closely looking at his face, it was clear to the nurse and everyone else that Lucas may not be fully awake. His eyes were at half mast, and slowly closing, opening again as he fought against the confusion and disorientation that plagued him.

"You are safe," Bridger spoke softly, and closely to his ear, thinking that the teenager might be scared that he was still being held by Sykes and his men.

Lucas turned his head slightly towards the voice, his expression changing a little as if he was trying to filter the information he had just been told.

"Safe," the Captain repeated, seeing the question forming on the young man's face and rubbing his hand gently through his hair, giving what comfort and reassurance he could.

Bridger could feel the tension leave Lucas's shoulders and slump a little more in posture at the single word he had managed to decipher despite his splitting headache.

Lucas was fighting to stay awake as the nurse resumed her routine and went about taking his vitals. She saw the pleading looks from the man and woman to be extra careful and not to disturb the young man any more than necessary. She was used to seeing the worried faces of parents and families.

Exhaustion soon won, and Lucas laid back down wearily against the sheets and pillows, his eyes drooping heavily. They opened again briefly, only to close again and remain so. The hand that Kristin had been holding growing limp as she watched his body and mind slip into sleep once more.

The nurse used the blood pressure cuff on Lucas's upper arm, her administrations not even making him raise an eyelid as she worked. "A little elevated, but probably due to the way he woke up in a fright just now," she told them.

She took a look at the thermometer reading and frowned a little at what she saw, Kristin immediately picking up on her change in demeanour and noting the small comment that was made on the clipboard chart.

"He has a temperature?" Bridger asked, worried that the onset of such would hamper any recovery time they were hoping for.

"It might be the body's way of coping with everything he has been through in the last twenty-four hours," Kristin reminded him gently, knowing that there could be a lot of reasons for the increase, but not wanting to jump to any conclusions just yet. Lucas had only been resting for a few hours and would need a good deal more in days to come.

"It is raised a little," the nurse admitted, "But not too high just yet. Let's give the antibiotics that the doctor prescribed a chance to work and keep an eye on it."

"He looks peaceful enough again for now," then nurse commented before leaving the room and going about her other duties. She had promised to come back as often as she was able to and check on the slumbering patient.

"Do you think he is going to have many times like this, remembering what it was like up in that room?" Bridger asked Kristin as they both settled in to watch over their charge once more.

"It would be healthier for him to remember than not to," Kristin said frankly. "Keeping any feelings or emotions locked away won't do him any good in the long term. When he is ready to talk, we have to be there for him again, just like we were after you returned from when they had taken him before."

* * *

A few hours later, Kristin and Bridger were meeting with Doctor Taylor once more, who had come to check on his young patient. He was pleased to see the young man still sleeping, though taking careful note of the slightly raised temperature and when he had awoken suddenly from a nightmare.

"His temperature still remains about the same," Taylor informed them. "It hasn't risen, which is a positive thing. I would like for the two of you however to get some decent rest of your own," he chastised lightly.

"Some of our people shouldn't be too far away from visiting," Kristin told him, "We will have one or two of them stay with Lucas while we do just that."

"See that you do. That young man is going to need you over the coming days, Kristin," Taylor smiled warmly.

"After waking early this morning, I don't expect him to wake until lunch time, by which time I will assess his situation again, and make some more informed decisions about his care from there," Mel Taylor explained. "Whilst you are resting, I will have the nursing staff continue to monitor him carefully and closely, and if he does wake, see if he will have something to eat and drink."

"We appreciate the extra care that you are giving to Lucas," Bridger spoke up. "I am sure that Lucas himself will want to thank you, once he is feeling a little better."

About twenty minutes after the Doctor left, Kristin and Bridger were seated beside Lucas once more when once of the day-time nurses came into the room.

"Captain, I think a few members of your crew are here to see you," she politely informed them.

"Thank you," Bridger replied, getting up to leave the room, "I will be right back. I will see who it is and then maybe you and I can go and get a hot cup of coffee and a sleep for an hour or two." he added, knowing that he and Kristin would have to rely on the help of their crew a little whilst Lucas healed. They were both very grateful for the excellent staff that they were surrounded with and how much they all cared about Lucas.

Bridger took one more fleeting look at the blanket covered lump on the bed and smiled, since falling back asleep, Lucas had barely moved a muscle, a pillow now grasped in his hands as covering part of his face from view.

When the Captain stepped out into the hospital corridor, he was greeted by Piccolo, Dagwood and Lonnie Henderson.

"Good morning," he greeted them casually, grinning a little at the sheer child-like expression of wonder that Dagwood had for such a big place.

"Good morning, Captain, Sir," Lonnie responded formally and with a salute, but was quickly waved away by Bridger's insistence of just being herself away from the boat.

"How's Luke doing?" Piccolo asked, foregoing all formality with 'Hello' and such.

"Ah, a little tired, but I guess that is to be expected for a large part of today anyway," Bridger answered. "We had a few concerning moments earlier this morning, and he has a slight fever, but apart from that, he is doing just fine."

"Ain't the doctor's trying to do something for him?" Tony wanted to know after hearing the diagnosis.

"Dagwood protect Lucas," the larger man stated, taking a step forward as if to assume such a role within the hospital.

"That won't be necessary Dagwood, thank you, we are very grateful for the help that you gave," Bridger assured him. "The Doctor is keeping a close eye on him, Tony, and is going to check on him again around lunch time to make a decision on what is going to happen to him today."

"They will be sending him back to the SeaQuest with us, won't they?" Tony stated, thinking this would be normal procedure for someone who was a crewmember onboard the SeaQuest.

"Well we would like that too, Tony, but let's just take it a little slower for now. Kristin already told you about his ribs last night, and I think that the doctor will want to make sure that the treatment he started is progressing nicely before releasing Lucas from the hospital."

"Commander Ford and everybody back at the boat said to let them know if Lucas needs anything. That goes for you and the Doc, too," Piccolo relayed.

"Thank you, for now you can visit Lucas if you like, while Kristin and I go and get a cup of coffee. After that they have set up a room for us, and I was hoping to get a couple of hours sleep before the Doctor comes back to do his rounds," Bridger explained.

"We would be happy to do that, Captain," Lonnie said, looking back at the two men and getting nodding acknowledgement from both.

"Yeah, sure Cap, no sweat. Luke and us will be just great," Piccolo promised.

"Like I said he is still sleeping and has a fever, so don't go expecting too much of him right at the moment," Bridger warned, leading the trio into the room.

Dagwood and Lonnie kept their footsteps as light as possible, worried about causing any noise that might disturb Lucas as they entered.

"Hey, Doc," Tony greeted Kristin.

Lucas seemed to stir at the sound of Tony's voice and turned his head on the pillow, earning the seaman a glare of disapproval from everyone in the room.

"Keep it down please," Kristin whispered, pleased to see that Lucas had not woken any further. His features still looked tired, pale and worn.

"Sorry," Piccolo said, his voice not exactly whispered, though his face changed a little as he walked closer to the bed and he looked down with concern at this friend.

"These three are going to take over for a couple of hours until Doctor Taylor comes back at lunch time," Bridger said quietly to Kristin, knowing there were several message in there for her about them both getting some nourishment and a little sleep.

"Does look kinda tired, don't he," Piccolo said, plopping down in the large chair that Kristin had just vacated.

"The nurses will be in periodically, but if Doctor Taylor or someone else needs to see us before then, please let us know. We are only a couple of floors away if Lucas needs anything," Kristin said to the three crewmembers.

Bridger was confident that they would do their best, he knew they were looking forward to seeing Lucas well again just as much as he and Kristin were. Piccolo might be brash and unorthodox, but his friendship with Lucas was solid and he would look out for the teenager until they returned.

* * *

"Dagwood would you like to go and get us some coffee or something to drink while we wait here with Lucas," Lonnie suggested, looking through her small purse for some money to give him.

"What would you like to drink?" Dagwood asked, taking Lonnie's request to heart and wanting to do a good job for her. It was no secret that he had taken a shine to her recently after the debacle with Doctor Brown's murder.

"Just a diet soda for me, Dagwood," Lonnie said. "Make sure you get yourself something too, I have given you enough for all three of us."

"Diet soda?" Tony taunted, "You may as well be drinking battery acid."

"Oh yeah, and what will you be drinking," Lonnie challenged.

"Just coffee for me, Dag. Black with two sugars," Piccolo stated.

"Sugar? I thought you always claimed you were sweet enough?" Lonnie joked.

"Hey I was up before the sun this morning, and that on any day is not a good thing for Tony Piccolo. Cut me a little slack today would ya?"

"Yeah, its been a long night and morning for everyone," Lonnie agreed, her tone growing a little more serious as she remembered what had happened at the hotel and how wrong things could have turned out. One look towards Lucas laying asleep on the bed and the bruising on his face was enough to convince her that they had been incredibly fortunate.

"You had better make mine coffee too, Dagwood. I think we are all growing to need the extra caffeine today."

"Coffee for Tony. Coffee for you. Dagwood not like coffee. Dagwood like orange juice," the larger man said as he left the room with the money in his hand and his mind on drinks for his friends.

"Don't get lost in this place," Tony called out after him, wondering if it was a good idea to let Dagwood go alone. The stigma of his skin was still a problem at some venues. Hopefully a hospital would prove different.

"He will be fine," Lonnie said, seeing Piccolo's questioning look after the G.E.L.F.

"T-Tony?" came a raspy voice from the bed, drawing Lonnie's and Piccolo's attention. Both of them scrambled beside their friend, waiting for him show them that he was awake.

"Yeah buddy, it's me," Piccolo responded. He wasn't a great person with the touchy feely stuff, even with close friends, but he was willing to be there for his young friend as much as possible.

"I am here too, Lucas," Lonnie said gently, rubbing her hand over his arm in a comforting gesture.

Lucas frowned a little, "You s-sound…….funny T-tony," he mumbled, not fully alert and his eyes remaining closed.

Tony made as if to sound indignant at such a remark, but saw his friend was still mostly asleep and any smart quip in reply would probably be lost, so he remained quiet, but grinned that the teenager had spoken. "How do you like that, not even conscious and my friend is giving me a hard time," he commented to Anderson.

Lonnie smirked at Piccolo and had to hold back a giggle, "There goes your hard earned reputation as a tough guy."

They both caught themselves and showed concern when Lucas attempted to roll onto his side, only to moan in pain at the movement.

They both held their breath and watched the teenager settle into his new position, but were worried about the winces and grimaces that they could hear him making from the pain.

By the time Dagwood returned with the drinks, Piccolo had been ready to send out a search and rescue party for the larger man.

"Where did you go to get the drinks, China?" Tony jibed as he took custody of the silver tray Dagwood was carrying and placed it on a nearby roll away table.

"No, downstairs by the nice lady," Dagwood answered, "Never been to China. Is it far?."

Lonnie and Piccolo looked briefly at Dagwood and then each other, both thinking the same thing, that it was often hard to tell if he was trying to make a joke or just stating a fact. The way he delivered his words sometimes, one could be mistaken for thinking either.

Knowing Dagwood he would have taken extra time talking to this cafeteria lady and telling her all about himself and where he was from. People had this strange habit of not being able to help themselves from asking about his odd colouring and the markings on his skin. Tony and Lucas tried to shield Dagwood from people's biased opinions of 'those considered different' from everybody else, and teach him that he was liked for who he was, not what he represented.

"I'll get Lucas to tell you all about China when he is feeling a bit better Dagwood," Tony promised, taking one of the white hospital cups and pouring from the coffee pot on the tray.

"This place is self service, huh?" Piccolo commented, noting how Dagwood had returned with a pot of coffee and cups and the sugar and teaspoons.

"No, the lady downstairs served me," Dagwood said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the crumbled notes that Lonnie had given him earlier. He stopped and thought for a moment, trying to find the right word, "the lady said that I could have anything I wanted from the counter."

"Did she give you a hard time?" Tony questioned, his curiosity peaking a little more at the larger man's idle comments that held a different meaning in his eyes. He had dealt enough with bigots and other people who just had to point out how different he was from everybody else. In Dagwood's case, that was nearly everywhere he went outside of the SeaQuest.

"She didn't ask for any money, Dagwood?" Lonnie asked, noting the angered look Tony was wearing and wanting to hear the full story about what happened.

"No," Dagwood said simply and went about looking intently at the large glass of orange juice that he had seen in the display cabinet. He was fond of sweet things, including fruit juices. Lucas had discovered this and made sure that there was always some on board as a treat. Orange was his favourite, but apple was nice too.

Dagwood looked up from his drink and saw that Lucas was awake watching the three of them sipping at their beverages.

"Lucas want some?" the larger man asked, not understanding about dietary restrictions that might be in place in a hospital.

"Maybe later, Dag, let him sleep," Tony said, briefly glancing back over his shoulder and almost dropping his own cup of coffee as he realized that the teenager was awake and looking back at them through blood-shot blue eyes.

"You're awake?" Lonnie said excitedly, reaching out to touch his shoulder, but surprised when he made an effort to avoid her hand and looked downwards towards the blankets. The expression on his face was a little odd and she didn't quite know what to make of it.

"Great to see you awake, Luke," Tony said brusquely, noting like Lonnie that the teenager didn't seem to bounce back with any reply to either of them.

"Maybe I should go and get the Captain or Kristin," Lonnie suggested, a little concerned about the lack of activity or movement from the young man. She knew he was hurt and probably in pain, but Lucas was rarely this quiet unless something was wrong.

* * *

Lonnie had almost left the room, when Bridger and Kristin appeared on their own, looking at little better, but only having napped for a couple of hours.

"He just woke up, but seems a little out of it," she informed them, not wanting to unduly alarm them, but feeling that something was amiss with their young genius.

Following behind the Captain was Doctor Taylor and a nurse, ready to do his lunch time examination. Suddenly the quiet room seemed a little overcrowded.

Lonnie motioned for Tony and Dagwood to follow her outside until the doctor was finished, "We are going to go and get something to eat," she told Kristin, thinking that Lucas would be a lot more relaxed with less people in the room.

Bridger had left Kristin talking with the doctor and nurse for a few moments and approached the bed, taking in Lucas's tired features but happy to see him a little more alert than when he had left earlier.

"Hey, how are you doing," he asked softly, but full of enthusiasm, trying to keep the mood within the room positive for the teenager. He had rubbed lightly at Lucas's left hand that lay on top of the blanket. Although he didn't jerk away as he had done with Lonnie, Lucas watched the Captain's movements and then turned his head away a little, looking off across the room.

Bridger didn't take the not talking as a bad sign, although he would have preferred it to a silent Lucas. He poured a glass of water from the jug on the bedside table, and offered it to the boy, pleased to see Lucas reluctantly admit his thirst and take it from him.

"Sorry," he whispered, handing back the empty glass to the Captain, apologizing for his poor co-operation.

"For what?" Bridger said, taking to sitting in the uncomfortable chair again, but keeping his attention fully on Lucas.

"Forget it, I don't want to talk about it," Lucas said, his voice devoid of emotion, fumbling with the edge of the blanket as he tried to get his thoughts into some kind of coherent order.

"Relax, you don't have anything to be sorry for. You do however, have quite a few weeks of rest and taking it easy in your future," the Captain forewarned, wondering if the teenager's mood was as a result of the medication he had received.

Kristin and Doctor Taylor now approached Lucas, the nurse going about taking the patient's vitals and recording them according to her normal routine, but being on standby to listen to any additional instructions that might be sent her way.

"Good Morning, Lucas," the doctor greeted him cheerfully, picking up the chart and glancing down at the notations that had been made.

"Do I know you?" the teenager asked, having very vague recollection of having met this person.

"Ah, we met under somewhat more unusual circumstances last night and early this morning when you were brought in by the helicopter," Taylor filled him in. "I bet your memory is a little foggy about what happened and why you have woken up here."

"Not that great actually," Lucas managed to say, his sentence almost cut short as a jab of pain caught in his chest and he was forced to close his eyes and breath through it.

Doctor Taylor and Bridger both watched with concern as the wave of pain appeared, helping the young man to sit up a little straighter on the bed. Kristin took several large pillows and arranged them behind Lucas's back to allow him to recline in a more upright position. Already there was a distinct difference to his heavy breathing, which they were grateful for.

"It looks like someone might be needing a little more pain relief about now," the Doctor recommended, relaying to the nurse which medication he wanted and the correct dosage.

"I know you don't feel the best right now, Lucas," Taylor began to say, "But you were extremely lucky that the damage wasn't more severe. You are going to be sore for a few weeks. For now I want to examine you and then make a decision on whether or not to send you back to your boat under Kristin's care."

Lucas looked back at Bridger, with words on the edge of his tongue, but his body was beginning to protest loudly about how bad it felt, and his energy levels were waning fast. Keeping his mind sharp enough to give the Doctor trouble didn't appeal to him.

With a loud audible sigh of resignation, he slumped back against the pillows, as though signaling that we wasn't going to fight about what was right and wrong for him right now.

The nurse began to draw the privacy curtain around the bed, ready for the doctor to begin his examination.

"Did you want to stay?" Taylor asked Bridger and Kristin, both of them quickly nodding their head in the affirmative.

Lucas had looked fleetingly at the adults and wondered if any of them had thought about asking what he wanted, but kept his mouth closed. He wasn't frustrated exactly, but couldn't find the right word to describe how he was feeling inside.

Over everything, the pain, the microchip, Sykes and his men, the kidnapping and the drugs he was given and everything that had happened. The doctor had been correct about his memory not being the best when he first awoke, but the flashes were taking him back quickly enough to know exactly how the night had panned out.

Taylor was astute enough to pick up on his patient's mood and adjusted to make the teenager feel more comfortable in his presence. He could see the emotions bubbling just below the surface, and understood that the young man had been through a very trying ordeal the night before. His reactions and feelings were expected and not unusual.

"His temperature is still a little higher, Doctor," the nurse informed Taylor, showing him the reading on the thermometer. The fever only diminishing about half a degree from the last time it was checked. But still within acceptable levels for now.

Lucas had a slight scowl on his face at the nurse's words and Kristin was about to say something to him when the nurse spoke to the doctor again.

"His blood pressure is normal, breathing a little laboured, but oxygen levels normal," the nurse recited.

"Hello! In the room here," Lucas said abruptly, folding his arms over his chest in an act of defiance, but it lost its intention when he had to hold his breath for a second and groan again at the pain that enveloped him. He tried leaning forward to alleviate the discomfort, but the pain began to grow consistent.

"Shhh, take it easy," Bridger soothed, rubbing his back, a little taken back at Lucas's outburst, but noting that the boy was hurting.

Kristin noted that it was a similar stance to the one Lucas had taken with Glenn the paramedic back at the hotel the previous night. Wanting to be told what was happening to him, rather than just be the object of the discussion. He was an adult and wanted to be treated like one, despite his youthful appearance.

"Sorry, Lucas, I didn't mean to leave you out of the conversation. Of course you should be told about everything that is going on with your own health," Taylor apologized, but was pleased to see the young man a little more alert and definitely trying to gain control over what was to happen to him.

"As I explained to your family last night, you have one broken rib here," the doctor said, pointing with his index finger, but keeping a safe distance from actually touching the injured area. "The one directly below it is cracked."

"You have quite a collection of bruises on your upper torso and arms and I bet a hell of a headache," the doctor continued, acknowledging when Lucas nodded the affirmative to the headache comment, and putting his hand to his head to massage the area for emphasis.

"I don't want to stay here in the hospital," Lucas said straight-forwardly, turning to Bridger and giving his best firm look.

"Lucas, why don't we…………," Kristin began to say, not wanting to argue with the boy when he was looking half-asleep and in pain.

"No!"

"Kristin knows best when it comes to your health, young man," Bridger said sternly, not wanting to chastise the teenager either, and knowing that he was feeling a lot of things at the moment. But he wouldn't allow the boy to raise his voice to Kristin.

Lucas punched the pillow with a fist to display his level of annoyance, but the movement caused the muscles across his chest to contract and he was rubbing at the area once more to dull the pain that resulted from the sudden action.

"It's not as if I haven't had broken ribs before you know," Lucas said through clenched teeth, unable to stop his anger from flowing out. "Usually more than one at a time. And there wasn't a single damn person around to help me then."

Doctor Taylor had remained silent so far, trying to gauge Lucas's behaviour and how to predict what might happen. He had been more than surprised by the outburst concerning previous injuries, and he could see that the other two adults were just as worried about the sudden references to them.

Bridger and Kristin could see that the teenager's emotions were getting the better of him. The nurse had returned with the medication that the doctor had requested and she went about giving the injection to the youth, pausing a little when he looked as though he might object.

The teenager could clearly see the doubt in the Captain's eyes that he was in any condition to leave. He could feel his frustration growing, but employed a different tactic instead that might just work against all in the room. He knew that the medication would soon be working and he would be forced to rest whether he liked it or not.

"Don't you get it," he said in a smaller voice, looking much younger than his 18 years as he swiped his right hand across his forehead and allowed it to drop into his lap. "I just want to be left alone," he drawled out, beginning to drift from the contents of the syringe.

* * *

All four adults watched for a few moments more as Lucas lost the battle with sleep and his features lost the tired and pinched look that had they held from the pain. He was still had a slight temperature, but his colour was improving and he didn't appear so pale.

Kristin adjusted the blanket over the slumbering form, giving him a kiss on his temple and whispering that everything would be alright after he got some rest.

"I apologize for him, Doctor," Bridger spoke up, rubbing a hand over the back of his stiff neck, trying to figure out how best to help Lucas get through all of this. "He usually isn't so depressed or negative."

"No need, Captain," Taylor assured him. "He has a lot of healing to do. I will have the nurse bring in some lunch for him in an hour and see if that picks up his spirits a little."

"I take it Lucas doesn't often comment about past events like he just did, judging from your reaction to his comments," Taylor assumed.

"No, you are right about that. You could have knocked me over with a feather when he said that. Lots of times Kristin and I have begged Lucas to come and talk to us at anytime about what happened when he was living with his father. So far the efforts have been scattered and non-committal. He tries to avoid speaking about them as much as possible. It usually is a very taboo subject with him," Bridger responded honestly.

"Perhaps events that have occurred to him now have forced him to relive some of those dreadful times," the doctor suggested.

"Oh, I certainly hope not," Bridger said in earnest, praying that Lucas wouldn't start to have nightmares again about Lawrence.

"Kristin, I think that later on this afternoon would be find to take Lucas back to somewhere he feels more comfortable. There isn't anything here that is going to be done that you couldn't achieve yourself, and I can see that you have a gentle hand with him. He may just respond better to that instead of a public and noisy environment such as this," Taylor gave in assessment.

The doctor and nurse were about to leave the room, when two uniform police officers knocked politely on the door.

"Yes, officers? Taylor greeted them, ushering them into the hallway, "I would prefer if we talked out here away from the sleeping patient."

"Sorry to disturb you folks," Officer Thomas offered in apology, "I am looking to speak to a Mr Lucas Wolenchuck?"

"Wolenczak," Bridger quickly corrected out of habit.

"Right, sorry, didn't mean to offend. Are you him?" the officer queried.

Kristin gave a quiet laugh in return, "No, Lucas is in the hospital bed, recovering from what happened to him."

"Yes, I know, that is why we are here. To clear up some loose ends so to speak," he motioned, gesturing with his hands and pulling out his small notebook.

"I am afraid that the young man is sleeping at the moment, and I do not wish him to be awoken unnecessarily. He has some serious injuries and is easily stressed," the doctor informed them. "I am afraid it might be some hours before you could conduct any kind of interview with him.

"And after that, you can talk to me as Lucas's personal physician," Kristin said to them. "Any emotional torment will only cause him more pain. I am sure you can understand."

"I do understand, ma'am," the second officer replied, "But because the incident at the hotel involves a death, the coroner has become involved and we need to fill in some missing details."

"We also have to talk to a Mr Collins who as also injured at the hotel, but he had already been discharged this morning from the Community Hospital, so we have yet to interview him as well."

"The less you talk about Mr Collins in our presence and in front of Lucas the better. That man has a lot to answer for if you ask me. Everything that happened could have been avoided if he hadn't had dollar signs in his eyes."

Kristin's body language showed just how happy she was with the man. "I plan to have more than a few stern words with him to sort out this whole messy affair."

The two officer's looked at each other, and reluctantly consented, seeing that the red-haired lady was looking to be a formidable opponent to cross in being allowed to speak to the kid in the bed.

"I am Captain Bridger and this is Doctor Westphalen, I apologize for the lack of introductions," Bridger stated.

"Would we be able to help with your enquiries until Lucas has had a little time to recover?"

"That would be fine for a few days, but I will need contact details for yourself and Lucas of course as to where he can be reached to complete the interview," Thomas consented.

"I am Captain Bridger and this is Doctor Westphalen, I apologize for the lack of introductions," Bridger stated.

"Would we be able to help with your enquiries until Lucas has had a little time to recover?"

"That would be fine for a few days, but I will need contact details for yourself and Lucas of course as to where he can be reached to complete the interview," Thomas consented.

"We are crew members aboard the submarine the SeaQuest, as is Lucas," Bridger informed them. "I will leave you

With details of where to get in touch with an Admiral Noyce from UEO Command. They will be able to put us in touch with either myself, Kristin or Lucas."

"Our tour of duty is due to start again as soon as we are back on board later tonight," Kristin told them.

The two officers looked at each other for another moment, thinking that things were getting much more complicated than they first thought.

"I will continue my rounds now Nathan, please let me know if you need anything," Doctor Taylor said as he left the group and prepared to go about his other duties. The nurse had already done so a few moments after the officers arrival.

"Thank you, Doctor Taylor," Kristin replied for both of them. "Why don't we take this conversation and interview to somewhere a little more private?" she suggested glancing back into the room and making sure that Lucas was still sleeping soundly.

"What about leaving Lucas?" Bridger said but almost at the same time as his spoke the sentence, Lonnie and Piccolo came into view from the elevators, in company with Dagwood.

Tony looked as though he wanted to walk back in the opposite direction immediately, not having a healthy appreciation of law enforcement officers. But with Dagwood standing directly behind him, he found himself stumbling embarrassingly for a moment, the police officers looking up and seeing him.

"Damn, busted!" Tony to Lonnie out of earshot from Dagwood. He was holding a large paper bag in one hand.

"Hello Mr Policeman," Dagwood greeted them excitedly.

Lonnie covered her mouth to hide the giggle on her face as the look on shocked expression on Tony's face. Piccolo had to bite his tongue and was trying not to yell 'What the hell are you doing' and not make it obvious at the same time.

Officer Thomas looked up at the large coloured skinned man, and flinched for a moment, but quickly turned his attention back to Bridger and Kristin to hide his unprofessional gawk at the G.E.L.F.

"Sorry where was I?" Thomas stammered, pulling at his throat and coughing as though something was caught in it.

"Our relief to watch over Lucas just arrived so we can go with you and complete your report," Kristin pointed out a little too helpfully the second officer thought to himself.

"Wow they have shiny badges and everything," Dagwood gushed in awe. He wanted to reach out and touch it with his hand, but pulled his hand back just as a strangled noise could be heard coming from Piccolo at the man's overactive curiosity.

The other members of SeaQuest felt like trying to hide underneath the floor with embarrassment.

"He is curious about everything," Bridger said, motioning for Lonnie to step forward, "Why don't you take Dagwood to go and visit Lucas?" he said quietly to her.

"Good idea?" Lonnie quickly agreed. "Let's go see how Lucas is doing Dagwood."

"Hey wait up, I am coming too!" Tony declared and slid in behind her, avoiding the strange look he was getting from the two officers.

"Okay, bye Mr Nice Policeman," Dagwood waved, until Tony grabbed the offending hand and shoved it back out of sight and glared at the man.

"We will be back as soon as we can," Kristin said to Lonnie, indicating that she and the Captain wanted them to stay with Lucas until they returned.

The trio watched as the two officers left with Nathan and Kristin to talk in another room.

* * *

"I was hoping that Luke here would be awake when we got back," he said looking back at his sleeping friend.

The door to the room opened, and in walked one of the domestic staff, carrying a silver covered tray. She greeted them warmly, walking towards the patient's bed.

It was only then that she noted Dagwood's startling appearance and she was glad to settle it down before she dropped it onto the floor. "Clumsy me," she apologized half-heartedly.

"Will you see that the young man gets this lunch?" she asked Lonnie, picking out the least looking imposing figure in the room. She wondered briefly if these people should be in here at all, noting how old the patient was, but silently chastised herself, judging that they were probably family.

"Sure," Tony said casually, ignoring the disapproving glance she gave as he took the cover off of Lucas's lunch tray and started assessing the contents. He picked up the small juice box, lifting it to his ear and shaking it, thinking there couldn't have been much in there to drink by its size.

Lonnie looked at the unappetizing tray and was thinking the same lines as Tony, 'Poor Lucas' about what he had to eat. It looked bland and anemic even.

"I don't make it, I just bring it," the woman tried to defend, seeing the looks and knowing what they were thinking. Fifteen years as a domestic handing out lunches and she knew them well.

"He is supposed to be getting better. How is he going to do that by eating this?" Piccolo questioned.

"It just doesn't look like very much," Lonnie tried to explain, knowing that it sounded no better coming from her.

"The contents of that tray are deemed to be the right calorie and nutrient intake for a patient of his size and medical condition," the woman recited, knowing the speech off by heart.

"You need to have a sign on the front door, "Bring a packed lunch and dinner," Piccolo joked. "Luke needs decent food that is going to put some meat back onto his bones."

"This is a hospital, and a dietician is employed to work out everybody's daily intake and a chef prepares the meals according to strict requirements," the woman added.

"Lady, Gandhi ate more than this!" Tony quipped.

The domestic ignored his sarcastic comment and told them she would be back for the tray later.

Lonnie had removed the plain hospital tray out of the way, keeping the small juice box and placing it near the water jug. Lucas might like it later.

Turning their attention back to Lucas within the room, Tony used the roll away table and dumped the large paper bag on top and started bringing out the goodies that he had bought.

A couple of large thermal cups filled with coffee, and a number of sandwiches wrapped up. He handed one each to Dagwood and Lonnie and put one in front of himself.

"Why doesn't Lucas wake up?" Dagwood asked simply, seated in one of the uncomfortable chairs and holding up half of his sandwich.

"The longer he sleeps Dagwood, the better he will feel," Lonnie tried to explain, wondering how much to tell him about how much pain Lucas was going to be in the next couple of days. Just the basics for now, anything else was probably best left to Kristin when she returned.

"That man hurt Lucas," Dagwood said, a gruff voice. "That should not happen."

"Don't worry, doctors and nurses here at the hospital are taking really good care of him," Lonnie tried to reassure him.

"Wonder when he is going to wake up?" Tony spoke through a mouthful of food, standing behind the bed and nudging the side of the bed with his thigh a little. He quickly looked up towards the doorway to make sure the Captain was around to see him do it.

"Tony!" Lonnie shouted at him, but then immediately lowered her voice at Lucas moving on the bed. "You are going to wake him up if you keep doing that."

"What do this?" Tony smirked, nudging the bed a second time. This time the reaction from Lucas was more noticeable as he started to wake.

"You just woke him up!" Lonnie pointed out, looking down at Lucas and seeing his efforts to open his eyes.

"Nobody saw me do it, and you are not going to dob me in," Tony taunted lightly.

"I saw you," Dagwood said matter-of-factly, and just as the words left his mouth, Kristin and Bridger walked through the door.

Kristin went to stand near Lonnie, asking if there were any problems while there were out. Lonnie mentioned about the lunch tray being delivered, but left out about the choice words Tony and the woman had exchanged about the meal.

"Saw him do what, Dagwood?" the Captain asked casually, walking over towards them. The first thing he saw was the guilty look on Piccolo's face and the glare he was earning from Lonnie and Dagwood. So something was definitely up.

"I didn't do anything," Tony lied, moving out of the way to give the Captain room beside Lucas.

"Hey, you are awake," Bridger smiled down at Lucas, his features didn't show the same confusion as it did earlier.

He placed a hand across Lucas's forehead and was pleased to feel that the temperature was now almost normal. The antibiotics must have been working well.

"Tony woke Lucas when she told him not to hit the bed with his leg," Dagwood announced to everyone in the room, pointing to Lonnie.

Kristin looked at the man sharply as did the Captain, ready to bring him to task and demand if it were true.

"Thank you Benedict Arnold," Tony griped to the larger man and trying to look contrite and stay his imminent execution for crimes against injured and sleeping teenagers.

"My name is Dagwood," the G.E.L.F. declared, thinking that Tony had forgotten his name.

Lucas had been half-listening to the conversation, but had tried to laugh at the name comment, the sound catching in his throat and causing him to cough. He groaned out loud as the irritation to his lungs send a fresh wave of pain to awaken his ribs.

"No you don't want to do that Luke, coughing makes you hurt more," Piccolo said with sympathy.

Lucas looked up at Tony, but didn't say anything, gratefully accepting a glass of water from Kristin and sipping at it. The cool water slid down his throat and helped a little, but the pain was ever present.

Lucas pushed himself to sit up a little more, pushing hands away that tried to help, "I am okay. I am okay," he tried to tell them, annoyed with himself how bad his body was hurting.

"Keep telling yourself that and you might just believe yourself," Tony scoffed, seeing that his friend was being stubborn about admitting he was hurting.

Lucas was about to escalate the argument with Tony further, when Kristin stepped in and tried to soothe the teenager's ruffled feathers, "How about something to eat?"

"Sorry about being a pain," Lucas mumbled apologetically to Tony, knowing that he shouldn't be taking his frustrations out on anybody else.

"Don't mention it, hurts like a bitch I know. I have had broken ribs myself," Tony said, not worried by the teenager's snappy moody.

Bridger was about to say something to Tony about his choice in words, when Lucas looked back at Tony in surprise to his revelation.

"You did?" the teenager asked, wanting to know more. Tony didn't talk about is past very often, anymore than he did, so any additional pieces to the Piccolo puzzle were encouraged.

"Back in the pen when I was there," Tony elaborated only slightly and then stopped just as quickly as he started, not wanting to get into this discussion in the middle of a hospital room. "Tell you about it some other time."

"Sure," Lucas said, knowing that more than likely it would never come up in conversation again.

"The nurse bought you a lunch tray, Lucas," Lonnie interrupted, hoping to change the uneasiness of the topic before it got any further.

"Thank you," Lucas said automatically as the tray was placed in front of him, seeing the pleased looks on the faces of the Captain and Kristin that he was at least interested in what was to eat. He had to make some sort of effort for their benefit.

But a scowl quickly showed on his face as he lifted the aluminum cover and saw what Tony had complained about to the domestic. He was trying to find the best way to say 'you have got to be kidding me' without sounding ungrateful.

"Yeah, that is what I said," Tony chimed in, noting the expression and agreeing whole-heartedly.

Lucas decided the best thing to do was to replace the cover and push the plate away from himself a little, picking up the small juice box and pretending to be interested.

Bridger and Kristin thought it was a little appetizing as well. Lucas was a finicky eater at the best of times and putting a plate of something like this in front of him was definitely not what they had expected.

"Luckily I thought of you when we was at the café down the street," Piccolo said smugly, reaching into the paper bag and pulling out a toasted cheese sandwich. He had wanted to get a hamburger with the lot until Lonnie had pointed out the doctor might have restrictions on his diet because of the medication.

Toasted cheese sandwiches were known personal favourite comfort food of Lucas. Simple and quick to make and didn't cost a lot of money. He had never quite explained where his like had come from.

"I take back everything I said about you, Tony," Lucas smiled in appreciation as he took custody of the sandwich and opened it up smelled the aroma. It wasn't as hot now, but that didn't matter.

Bridger and Kristin were happy to see Lucas eating, wondering what the nursing staff might have to say about him eating something that hadn't come from the hospital kitchens. But the boy was eating, and that was always a good thing in their eyes. They were happy that Tony had thought of his friend enough to know what he might eat.

Tony could see the approval he was getting from Bridger and Kristin and knew he had scored a few points that he could claim on at a later date. It might just save him from deliberately waking Lucas.

"Hey! What things have you been saying about me and to who?" demanded to know, keeping to improve the kid's mood.

Lucas offered a smile behind half an eaten sandwich, but didn't give any further details.

Bridger wanted to brooch the conversation now about him being released from the hospital, "Lucas, the doctor may let you leave here later this afternoon. We should be heading back to the SeaQuest and getting things organized for you back there."

"Don't go changing anything, I will be fine," Lucas said, polishing off the second half of the sandwich and feeling slightly better for having food in his stomach. He was glad it wasn't as bland as the lunch tray, nor too spicy or rich that it might reek havoc with his medication and cause him to feel sick.

"Which of us is going to stay with Lucas?" Kristin interjected?

"Nobody needs to stay with me," Lucas huffed a little. "I am not going to be going anywhere from here."

"I don't think that is such a good idea, Lucas," Nathan said, not wanting for him to get stressed again.

"Look, I just want some time to myself. Lots of things are going around in my head at the moment, and I don't really want somebody hovering over me and playing babysitter."

"I have to talk to Doctor Taylor about what the conditions of your release are going to be and what medication he wants you to be on," Kristin said, "I can do that, so I won't actually be in the room with you, but not far if you need anything. Deal?"

Lucas thought over the proposal for a moment, thinking a compromise was probably the best he was going to get. He knew that she and the Captain were still carrying a little guilt over not being able to stop Sykes back at the hotel.

"Yeah, I guess," he said resigned to the fact that someone would remain at the hospital in some capacity.

"Oh I am so thrilled you enjoy my company," Kristin retorted, trying to sound perturbed.

"We should be about two hours at the most and can meet you back here to collect everything," Bridger suggested.

Thinking in his head what might need to be done back on SeaQuest to make it easier for Lucas over the next few weeks.

Staying in his cabin was a known quantity, both to make it easier to know where he was most of the time and make sure he wasn't doing too much he shouldn't be, and to avoid using too many of the stairs that he normally would to get to his own cabin shared with Piccolo.

"Looks like I get the better deal out of this anyway, Luke. You get a nice little holiday away from home for a few weeks, and I get the top bunk without even trying or having to give you a dime," Tony poked in fun.

"You are sooooo not going to get the top bunk, I don't care where I am sleeping," Lucas returned, keeping up the long standing battle between them over the who slept where.

"You won't be able to be in there for a few weeks, Lucas. Not having to continually climb that ladder to get up there and possibly falling or doing more damage to your ribs," Kristin warned.

"Lucas can sleep in my bed and I can swap with him," Tony argued.

"Your bed? Are you kidding me? I would rather sleep on the grate floor by the moon pool," Lucas rebuked.

"Dagwood, make sure he stays away from the top bunk until I get back there," Lucas asked the larger man.

"I will keep Tony away," Dagwood promised, taking the request seriously.

"I hate to break up all this sentimentality," Tony shrugged, trying to end the conversation before it got any further.

"Shouldn't we be's somewhere else so he can get out of here?"

The Captain nodded his head in agreement, knowing that Piccolo was right about them heading back.

"How are you feeling now, Lucas?" Bridger asked honestly, wanting to know before he left the hospital.

"Okay. Not great, but I will be fine until you get back. I just want to get out of here for a while and stop thinking," Lucas admitted, hoping it didn't sound as needy to his family and friends as it did to his own ears.

"Are you feeling much pain?" Kristin asked, putting her hand on his shoulder and wanting a straight answer, not his usual dance around it to avoid what was happening.

"Yeah, pretty sore, and I can't take too deep a breath at the moment. I thought those drugs might make my stomach queasy, but so far okay there. Have to remember not to cough or sit up too quickly."

"Do you need anything brought back to leave with?" Nathan asked.

"No, just a change of clothes or something I guess," Lucas answered. "I haven't got anything except these and I don't know what they did with my clothes from last night."

"Ah, the shirt is a write off I am afraid. They had to cut it up to treat your ribs," Bridger informed him.

"Cut it up?" Lucas said in surprise, "Man that was one of my best shirts too," he complained.

"I will bring something back for you to wear," Bridger stated.

"Just make sure that it is something from my wardrobe and that I can be seen in public in," Lucas said.

Bridger rolled his eyes in mock exaggeration and began motioning to Lonnie, Dagwood and Tony to make their way towards the door.

"I will go and find Doctor Taylor and come back later," Kristin said, smoothing out the blanket on the bed over Lucas's legs, hoping he would relax and sleep while she was gone.

"We will be back soon," Bridger reassured Lucas.

* * *

Caught a little in between as he waved goodbye, Lucas was pleased to have some quiet time, but also couldn't wait until they returned to take him out of here back to SeaQuest.

About half an hour after everybody left, Lucas was feeling like a bit of a loose end, and without anything to do and nobody to talk to. Getting around the hospital with his injured leg was going to prove more difficult than the effort was worth. He had yet to see any crutches nearby to assist him. Something he would have to ask someone about.

Lucas found his thoughts drifting as he dozed lightly. He expected the nurse to return at some stage to check his vitals again, and reminded himself to ask her when he fell asleep.

What nobody had thought about was Mr Collins except for the brief mention of his name with the two police officers.

The man had been released from Community Hospital, and was keen to try and still negotiate a deal with Lucas. He hadn't thought much about the fact that the boy was injured and angry about the mishandling of the entire event last night. He was keen to talk to the young man as soon as possible.

Finding out where the young man had not been difficult, given his high connections within the U.E.O. and Mr Collins

was now standing at a nurse's reception desk on the same floor as Lucas's room.

"Excuse me Miss," he asked politely, addressing one of the staff.

"Yes, can I help you?"

"I am looking for a young man who was brought into this hospital last night?"

The nurse knew who he was talking about without looking at her admission register, but was wary about this stranger now asking for details.

"I am sorry, but I am not allowed to give that information out to anyone who isn't family," the nurse informed him.

"I know, but you see the boy was injured in my hotel and I feel so bad for him. I just wanted to see how he is doing and wish him to get well soon," Collins said, putting on his best performance.

"Mr Wolenczak was brought here last night, but I cannot allow you to see him without consent. If you wait here, I can ask if he wishes to see you?" the nurse said.

"That would be swell," Collins said excitedly, trying to make like a long lost uncle who was desperate to see the kid.

He sat on a nearby row of chairs, looking aimlessly around the room as though not taking notice of what the nurse was doing. What she didn't see was his intent gaze on her approach to a private room and the number on the door.

The nurse had only been in there briefly, and came out rather too quickly for his liking. She began walking towards him, "I am sorry, but the young man is sleeping and needs to rest. Doctor's orders."

"Oh, I wouldn't want to disturb him of course," he said, fumbling with the hat he was carrying in his hands.

"I will come back a little later during visiting hours, do you think that would be alright?"

"That would be more appropriate," the nurse agreed, pleased to see that the man didn't appear to want to cause trouble.

Collins made sure the nurse saw him head towards the elevators and down to the lower floors. It was approximately an hour and a half later, when he covertly used a set of internal stairs to make his way back up to Lucas's floor.

He watched the reception desk carefully for any signs of staff and was pleased to note that the corridors were virtually free.

He was able to quietly approach Lucas's room without being noticed and carefully opened the door and let himself inside.

Collins tossed his hat aside briefly and walked over to the bed, dismayed that the nurse had been correct about Lucas sleeping. He had wanted to talk to the boy when he was awake and coherent.

"Lucas," he called, waiting for a response.

When he didn't receive one, he used an open hand on the boy's shoulder, and gave him a small shake, calling his name a second time.

"Go away, Tony," Lucas mumbled and tried to roll away from the hand.

The teenager felt too comfortable and sleepy to try and open his eyes, but could tell from the voice that someone was urgently trying to gain his attention. He grumbled once more at his name, content to lie within the blankets and groaning when his ribs protested loudly from the movement.

"Lucas it is me, Mr Collins," the man said, speaking a little louder and glancing towards the door, hoping that a nurse wasn't about to walk in and catch him.

Pain exploded in Lucas's ribs as his brain filtered the information and he tried to sit up too quickly. Gasping with pain, coughing from the sudden changes in position, the boy was forced to hold his breath, waiting for the agony to subside.

Lucas turned his face towards the voice and his pained expression quickly changed to one of outrage as he spied Collins staring back at him.

* * *

"What exactly do you w-want?" Lucas demanded hotly, his voice catching on the last word as pain assaulted him again.

Whilst Collins was in Lucas's room, Bridger had returned to the hospital with Piccolo, a small bag in hand, ready to meet up with Kristin and see if the doctor was ready to release Lucas into her care.

"Oh good, Nathan, you are here," Kristin met him near the nurse's reception desk. "Nurse Reynolds tells me that Lucas has been sleeping a good deal since we left."

"That's a relief………," Bridger began to say when he was interrupted by the sound of raised voices coming from Lucas's room.

He, Kristin and Nurse Reynolds exchanged confused glances towards each other, wondering who was doing the shouting.

"I hope that man hasn't come back and tried to see Lucas without permission," the nurse said.

"What man?" Kristin asked, clearly alarmed that this was the first time she or Nathan had heard about Lucas having visitors outside of the crew.

"A man came up here a couple of hours ago, asking about Lucas being brought in here last night," the nurse explained, thinking that they would already know this.

"How would someone know that?" Bridger demanded to know, not directing the question at any one person in particular, but concerned that somebody had deliberately asked about Lucas. Too many bad memories surfaced for him to feel comfortable about it.

"I told him that the young man was sleeping, and I saw him go downstairs," she added, all three of them now heading towards the closed door, the shouting inside becoming more noticeable.

"You just don't get it do you!" Bridger heard Lucas shout from inside. He opened the door and was confronted with an angry looking teenager, sitting on the edge of the bed, red faced with his arm wrapped around his middle.

"What the hell are you doing here, Collins?" Bridger addressed the man, walking over to Lucas briskly and seeing the pain on his face.

Kristin and Nurse Reynolds were not far behind and had displeased looks of their own.

Kristin was a little more forceful than Nathan and Collins shrunk back from the approaching red-haired woman, afraid she was about to get physical for being anywhere near Lucas.

Before Kristin and Bridger could get Collins to talk, Lucas renewed the conversation they had been having.

"Lucas, I know I made a mistake last night," Collins said, trying to keep his attention on Lucas, but waiting and expecting to be grabbed and physically dragged out of the room.

"Like I said, you just don't get it do you?" he repeated. He gestured with his hands for that he wanted to keep talking to Collins. He wanted to get this off his chest now and tell the guy off while everything was still fresh in his mind.

Nurse Reynolds whispered to Kristin if they should get security, but the doctor shook her head negatively, listening to the teenager's words and noting his anger and disappointed tone in his voice.

"You didn't listen to me from the start," Lucas accused. "When I told you that I wanted to be part of the partnership but wanted a say in what happened."

"You were offered a substantial sum of money, Lucas," Collins tried to defend. "You had to hold up your end of the bargain and impress the investors that you could deliver what you were claiming."

"NO!" Lucas shouted loudly, his anger growing.

Bridger made to take a step forward, worried that the boy was going to stand up from the bed and tumble onto the floor. Thankfully Lucas didn't but he kept within reaching distance, wondering if he could get the teenager to calm down. From the tone and volume of his voice, he doubted it right at the moment.

"I told you that I didn't want any big fan fair or celebration. Just a little get together to celebrate was what was going to be a great deal for me and your company. You made the mistake of making this all about money. It was never about the money."

"But the investors………," Collins began to explain, only to be cut off mid-sentence.

"The investors," Lucas scoffed, his voice changing a little to sarcastic and resentful. "Those investors should never have been there. Did you hear any of what they had to say?"

"I talked to a lot of them that were impressed with your design and abilities," Collins replied.

"Well you obviously were talking to a different lot of investors than me," Lucas shoved back, "I heard them. I overheard them talking about me playing video games and that they weren't going to invest a cent with a project where I was involved. Wanting to buy my designs and then stealing it for their own use and shutting me out in the cold."

Collins looked clearly stunned at this statement, not having heard anything that the boy was talking about and it showed.

"And then to make things worse, those scumbags thought that the project wasn't really my work at all," Lucas said,

rubbing at his chest, and clearly struggling to hold back his emotions by now.

"I am sure they just made an innocent mistake, Lucas," Collins said, still trying to salvage something out of the mess.

"For the record…….," Lucas began, making sure he had Collins' full attention before continuing, "my so-called bastard of a father has never had 'anything' to do with my work and 'never' will."

"Look Lucas, I am sorry I came here today, you are clearly still recovering and not thinking straight," Collins tried to say, but the incredulous look on the teenager's face at such a statement stopped him from saying anything further.

"The deal is off, O.F.F.," Lucas enunciated each letter for emphasis. "The chip is no longer being offered to you nor anybody else."

"You betrayed my trust. How can we have a business relationship together if we can't be honest with each other?"

The teenager's upper body was now in a slumped position, and his head lowered, his eyes fixated on the blanket rather than who he had been yelling at. He moaned at the pain that was erupting in his ribs from his outburst, laying back against the pillows and hiding his reddening face behind a hand over his eyes.

"I think that is just about enough out of everyone for now," Bridger interjected, noting that the last couple of syllables from Lucas were whispered. He wasn't about to take 'no' for an answer from Collins and would eject him by force if necessary.

"You have your answer Collins, now get out. If you try and contact Lucas again, you will have me to deal with," Bridger warned ominously.

The man slunk away, looking as though he wanted to say something else until Kristin took one step towards him with a 'I dare you look' on her face and that was all it took for him to scurry towards the elevators, maintaining a safe distance from her and the Captain.

* * *

Bridger could see the over-wrought teenager was trying to regain control and fighting within himself. Feeling guilty for being angry at Collins.

"Don't worry about it now, Lucas," Bridger said, putting a comforting hand on his upper arm, knowing that the silent promise to himself about helping sort out the mess had just been torn up and shredded.

"Hey, are you alright?"

"Is he gone?" Lucas said after a few moments of silence between him, his voice betraying his emotional state.

"Yeah, he has gone, sorry I wasn't here to stop him getting in here in the first place," Bridger said, smiling up at Kristin who joined him beside Lucas on the other side of the bed. She wanted to give as much support as well.

"How did he get in here anyway?" Kristin asked, still glancing back at the door and making sure that nobody would enter that wasn't supposed to be there.

"I don't know," Lucas answered truthfully, lowering his arm. His face was no longer as red, but he was looking tired and small lines of pain were more evident.

"I was sleeping and felt someone shaking my shoulder. I thought it was Tony," Lucas told them.

"How big of an idiot do I look now?" Lucas said glumly, his mood darkening again.

"So stupid to trust him just like that," he groused, trying to keep his fragile composure. He didn't want to admit how much he had wanted that deal and certainly wasn't going to beg Collins for it now.

"Not stupid, Lucas, stop talking like that," Bridger chastised lightly, appalled at the low self-esteem. "You have every right to be angry and disappointed. I know this was your dream and you were almost within reach. To have it snatched away like that hurts."

Lucas turned his head away, not wanting to show just how much it did hurt and how lousy he was feeling about it all.

His head was beginning to ache again with all of the thoughts roaming around inside his head.

"I am so sorry it didn't work out the way you had hoped," Bridger added.

"Thanks for understanding, but can we not talk about this anymore here," Lucas pleaded, thoroughly mortified.

The conversation was interrupted by the appearance of Doctor Taylor at the door, showing a little concern for his patient but noting that things must have settled down after the report he had received from Nurse Reynolds about an unauthorized visitor being present.

"Good afternoon, Lucas, folks," the doctor greeted them, picking up Lucas's chart and looking at it, but looking over the top of it at his patient. He could still see small tremors of agitation and fatigue in abundance. This environment was not proving to be best for his recovery at all in his opinion.

"How are you feeling, Lucas?" Taylor queried, the standard question of doctor to patient.

Lucas looked back at the man, knowing he was just doing his job, "Spectacular," he said sarcastically, the tone giving the word the totally opposite in meaning.

Bridger thought he might have to say something to Lucas, but noted that Lucas offered no further explanation, and seemed resigned to the fact that the doctor wasn't at fault for the exchange between himself and Collins.

"Can I '_please' _just get out of here?" Lucas cajoled.

"That is exactly what I came here to talk to you about," Taylor replied, although clearly there had been other reasons that he wasn't going to elaborate on.

Lucas looked up with a hopeful expression on his face, sitting up straighter and waiting for the doctor to nod his head in agreement.

"But not before I give you the list of conditions," the doctor warned, putting up a restraining hand to indicate there would be plenty of rules to adhere to.

"You have to do everything that Kristin tells you."

Lucas nodded affirmatively, but the doctor raised his finger to stop him, continuing with his little speech of commandments.

"I am going to give you a muscle relaxant just before you leave the hospital now, to help alleviate some of the pain.

I don't expect that it will give you much relief until you get back to your submarine. By which time, I expect you to take the other medication that I will prescribe and rest. Full co-operation now, no short-cuts," Taylor informed the teenager.

"He promises to be good, Doctor," Kristin spoke for him, giving Lucas a look that said 'you will not argue'.

Even if Lucas wasn't about to be completely co-operative, Taylor had enough faith in Kristin as a friend and had seen enough caring concern from the Captain to be confident they would make him take it easy.

"Well then, well you are all ready, the medication will be ready to be collected at the nurse's reception desk.

I will organize a new pair of crutches for you, Lucas," Taylor consented to the release. He already had a prepared syringe in his white lab coat pocket for the muscle relaxant.

Lucas kept quiet as the doctor administered the shot, and allowed the man to check him over briefly.

Taylor knew that Kristin would give the young man a much more thorough examination for her own peace of mind and was happy enough to leave everything else in her capable hands.

"Goodbye Lucas, and good luck. Take care of yourself and I don't expect to see you back here anytime soon," Taylor farewelled.

"I will, thanks," the teenager stated.

"Thanks for everything you have done," Bridger said stepping forward and shaking the doctor's hand in genuine gratitude. "You and your staff have been terrific."

"Our pleasure, Captain. Lucas was no trouble at all," the doctor responded. "Kristin you know where and how to reach me if you need me for any reason," he added.

"Nathan I will meet you out here, while you help Lucas," Kristin said, following the doctor and going to collect the medication and basic instructions. She doubted she would need any of them in taking care of Lucas, but knew the doctor was doing what was best for his patient.

* * *

"So what do you say, ready to get out of here?" Bridger asked, trying to lift Lucas's mood.

"Yeah, I guess," Lucas nodded, accepting the clothes that the Captain handed him.

"Need any help?"

"Nah, I can handle it," Lucas replied, watching as the privacy curtain was drawn around his bed. Happy that the Captain respected him enough to ask even if he was worried about him.

Bridger had to stop himself a couple of times from going inside the curtain, listening intently and hearing the grimaces of pain and string of expletives that the teenager used when his ribs caught him by surprise as he coaxed his body into the baggy pants and overly large baseball shirt.

The Captain had chosen loose fitting clothing so as to avoid them rubbing against the bandaging adorning most of Lucas's chest. And remembering the teenager's request for something passable for his tastes.

Lucas drew back the curtain, hoping on one leg and trying to keep as much weight as possible off the other with the cast, "All set," he announced, but his voice sounded tired and without enthusiasm for someone who was pleading with the doctor to release him.

"Good to know," Bridger said, standing close enough to him to offer a steadying hand.

Lucas began shuffling his way to the door, looking back and making sure there wasn't anything left behind. Then remembering that he hadn't had much on him when he arrived. All his personal effects had been taken by the Captain back to the SeaQuest when he had returned with Lonnie, Tony and Dagwood.

By the time he reached the corridor outside his room, he had to pause and concentrate on breathing, scarcely able to believe that he felt so bad after only walking a short distance. He didn't know how long the muscle relaxant was supposed to take to start working, but he was convinced that he had yet to feel its benefit.

"Doing okay?" Bridger asked gently, putting his hand on the young man's shoulder and feeling the trembling present.

He could see the pain on Lucas's face and his disappointment at not being able to mask how much it was hurting him.

Kristin approached them, with the bag of medication and the pair of crutches, but held onto them for the time being, thinking that they would be more cumbersome than helpful at present.

"Just take it slow, no need to rush," she gave in sympathy, seeing his pinched features.

She had already made a note to give him a dose of medication once they reached SeaQuest, and wished she could do something now to help alleviate the discomfort. She knew that if the doctor had made Lucas take it now, he would be asleep before leaving the hospital, and that wasn't what the teenager wanted. He had had enough of playing the victim and wanted to show everyone that he could handle this latest set back.

The elevators made things a lot easier for Lucas, although he had chosen to stand against the corner of the small cubicle, keeping his thoughts to himself as they made their way down to the ground floor.

Lucas allowed himself to be lead out of the lift and past the hospital's main doors, Kristin and Bridger a little surprised and concerned at the same time with how pliable he was. This wasn't normal behaviour for the boy, even if he was injured, but they had to put some of it down to possible side effects of the muscle relaxant.

The U.E.O. vehicle was only a short distance in the car park, but Lucas could feel every twinge as they made their way across a small grassed area. A few disguised moans of pain and a couple of pauses to catch his breath as a sharp stab would make him stop, and he was seated across the back seat ready to head back to SeaQuest.

Bridger had sequestered as many pillows as he could find and a few blankets and used them to make Lucas as comfortable as possible. Lucas was able to stretch out along the length of the seat and take the weight off his injured leg.

The trip back to the SeaQuest took less than an hour, and Kristin thought that it might be long enough for Lucas to fall asleep. But to her dismay he never achieved more than a fitful doze which was often cut short due to the stopping and starting at traffic lights or other external noises that wafted into the vehicle to disturb him.

When they finally arrived back near the SeaQuest, and prepared to leave the vehicle, Lucas had already shuffled along the seat and opened the back door by the time Kristin got out of her own seat, prepared to lend him a hand.

"Just give me a minute," Lucas said gruffly, immediately apologizing as the words sounded harsher than they were meant to. His body was protesting loudly at the amount of movement that he had done since leaving the hospital and the muscle relaxant wasn't doing anything to help with the pain except made his limbs feel uncoordinated and dysfunctional.

Lucas took the crutches from Bridger with thanks, knowing that the walk to the SeaQuest was going to be a little longer than that to the car from the hospital. He immediately regretted having to use them though, the minute he placed them under his arms and tried to take his weight off his injured leg.

The muscles across his chest contracted sluggishly, but enough to cause him almost forget the idea. With grit and determination though , he was not going to show weakness in front of Kristin or Bridger. And definitely not in front of his fellow crew members.

* * *

"Welcome back, Lucas," Commander Ford greeted the returning trio from the hospital. Tony Piccolo, Lonnie, Dagwood and a number of the other senior crew members stood near the moon pool in support.

There are a few other words of "glad to see you back", and a few jibes from Tony, but most of them went unanswered or with little response. Lucas's only focus was on getting out of the spotlight and laying horizontal before he did the whole embarrassing passing out thing in front of them all.

In a message meant for everybody gathered around as well as Lucas, Kristin ushered him past them all, headed towards the Captain's quarters, "Let's get you settled into bed and you can have your medication, something to drink and a nice long sleep."

The crew took the hint from Kristin's words that they wouldn't be seeing much of Lucas for the remainder of the afternoon. They could all see he was tired and drawn. Even Tony seemed to understand that Lucas was not looking for company or well-wishers for the moment.

"Now I know you didn't want us to go to any trouble, and we didn't really," Bridger began to say as the trio entered his cabin, "But I thought you might like to talk to an old time friend from time to time as you are resting," he added, indicating the bed that had been turned length ways along the wall.

"From here you will be able to see Darwin without any trouble of moving about too much, and talk as much as you like, when you are ready," Bridger said, hoping the dolphin would help perk up the kid's spirits.

"Seems like your friend couldn't wait to talk to you either," Kristin mentioned, pointing to the dolphin encased in the watery tube running through the room.

"You get into bed, and I will be right back," Kristin said, giving Nathan a look that said, 'don't leave him just yet'.

Lucas had yet to say anything, but had glanced up towards Darwin, and gave the briefest ghost of a smile that Bridger had seen on his face since leaving the hospital.

The smile quickly turned into a grimace as he relinquished the crutches, not bothering to pick up the one that fell to the floor by accident. He sighed audibly as his aching body came contact with the mattress, hating that he felt too tired and cursing the pain that was growing by the minute.

Kristin had returned with two white pills in her hand and a glass of water. Lucas knew he was never going to get out of taking them, so didn't bother to argue with her about them.

"They will help."

Lucas nodded and swallowed them, handing back the glass.

"Nobody will disturb you in here," Bridger assured him, feeling a lot better with Lucas being back where he belonged under Kristin's watchful eye.

Lucas turned into the pillow and closed his eyes, knowing that sleep wouldn't be far away.

"I am here if you want to talk," the Captain whispered, knowing that it wasn't going to happen for the next couple of hours at least. Both adults watched as the teenager's breathing evened out and he fell asleep under the heavy warmth of the blankets.

* * *

Over the next couple of days though, that 'time to talk' never seemed to eventuate for Bridger. He knew that Lucas was feeling sore and irritable, but each time he had tentatively brought up the subject, the teenager had clammed up and refused to acknowledge that something was bothering him.

For the most part, routine returned to the SeaQuest as she headed out into deeper waters onto her next mission.

Lucas had been out of the cabin infrequently, mostly due to Kristin's strict orders to rest, but also because he didn't want to have to explain why he had chosen to keep his project a secret. Most of the crew thought they understood it was because of what had happened at the hotel and because of Sykes previous underhanded attempts to acquire it.

But Bridger could see that it wasn't the whole reason for Lucas's subdued and sullen mood. He couldn't fault the teenager on being co-operative, the medication made sure of that. Making him sleep more than he usually would for the first few days anyway.

Another two days later, and Bridger was almost at his wits end to get Lucas to talk to him. Kristin assured him that physically he was recovering better than expected, although it would still take time. She was hoping to take the flexible cast off his leg by the end of the week, hoping it might help give him a little more mobility.

She had been a little concerned about his lack of enthusiasm when she had banned him from long work hours, only allowing him a certain number of hours a day on the computers. There were requests coming in from the whole boat now they knew Lucas was back, hoping to gain some of his expertise, but so far, all their efforts had been for naught.

Lucas hadn't even tried to argue with Kristin or Bridger about the restrictions on his computer time, and this worried them both. A Lucas that wasn't using a computer had never been heard of.

Tony Piccolo overheard Kristin talking to Bridger about the teenager's sullen mood and his lack of sleep over the past couple of days.

"He is healing nicely, Nathan, but that won't continue if he doesn't keep taking his medication. I know he hates the way it makes him feel groggy and says how it takes away his independence, but short of turning to direct threats, he refuses to take any more. He should have had two doses by now."

"I don't want to appear to be the heavy here either, Kristin. But he won't talk to me. I have tried. Hell, I think half of the boat has noticed and offered to help, but Lucas keeps shutting us all out."

"Let me try," Tony suggested, stepping out so that he could be seen. "With you guys, he knows you want him to talk, so he doesn't. With me, talking is not expected or a requirement, so he just might."

Kristin and Bridger both startled at the third person addressing them, but upon seeing Piccolo, pondered that thought for a minute.

"I don't want him upset," Kristin warned, looking back at him, knowing the man's propensity for going too far sometimes and saying things off the cuff that sometimes didn't go down well with others.

"Just give me the pills he is supposed to take," Tony declared, not offended by the small lack of faith in him to solve the problem. "I will be back in a minute."

Both Bridger and Kristin waited outside the cabin, feeling a little foolish about waiting in the corridor. Piccolo returned with two steaming ceramic mugs and motioned for the doctor to dispense the pills.

* * *

"Knock, knock," Tony called out loudly as he walked through the door without waiting for an invitation.

Bridger was able to stop it from sealing closed and allowed it to stay open just enough for him and Kristin to hear what was going on between the two friends.

"You coming in here to lecture me about going to bed too, I suppose," Lucas accused, not turning his head, but recognizing Piccolo's voice.

Kristin and the Captain thought for a minute that Piccolo's plan was going to fall flat before it was even put into effect.

"Nah, you are big enough to decide that yourself," Tony said, sitting down in an armchair that was positioned a few feet away from the bed. Bridger often liked to read late at night, and allowed himself a little more comfort with the large chair.

"Well you are the first one around here to say that," Lucas said, surprised at his friend's understanding.

"They are just afraid for you, Luke," Tony said plainly. "They had a pretty big scare back at the hotel when they saw you fall out that window. Don't be surprised if they hover around for quite a bit longer yet.

Tony held out one of the mugs to the teenager, secretly relieved when it was accepted with curiosity.

"Coffee?"

"Nope, something a little easier on the stomach."

Lucas began to grow skeptical again, thinking that Tony had been egged on by someone else, but was surprised when he took a sip of the milky beverage.

"Hot Chocolate!"

"Yeah, just warm enough to slide down your throat," Tony said in pleasure, enjoying his own drink. "My grandmother always used to say……..,"

"Did you ever have a relative that didn't have something to say?" Lucas interjected before taking another warm mouthful.

"Hey, anything that tastes this great, has to be good for what ails you," Tony defended. "It is her recipe you know. Passed it along to my mother. Tried to get Nick to make it a couple of times………," leaving the sentence unfinished.

Lucas knew what the score was with Tony's estranged mother and father. Not a lot different from his own. He knew enough not to bother commenting.

"I guess you already heard by now about throwing in the towel about the deal with Collins," Lucas questioned, changing the subject completely out of the blue, but just where Bridger had wanted it to go.

Bridger could scarcely believe that the teenager was being so open and honest when he had asked several times.

Maybe Tony had been correct about them trying too hard and just allowing things to happen naturally.

"Doesn't mean anybody thinks any less of you for sticking up for yourself, Luke." Tony goaded him into explaining what he was feeling.

"I know that," Lucas began to say, but stopped, knowing that it was part of exactly what he thought people would say about his lost venture. He had waited for the jibes to come about not being ready to handle rejection, and they had been right too, he didn't handle it well.

"Can I ask you something?" Lucas said, the tone of his voice changing to a more serious one as he swallowed the last of the hot chocolate, still holding the mug in his hand.

"As long as it is not about my ex-girlfriends, you know you can."

'Ex-girlfriends' Lucas thought to himself, smiling a little and filing that piece of information away in the 'To Do at an inopportune moment' pile.

Tony inwardly smiled too, knowing that there were very few secrets kept between them, if any. Both knew each other's strengths and weaknesses. You couldn't share a room with someone for long before you got to know a little too much about each other than they wanted you to know.

"What would you have done? I mean would you have turned down a twenty-five million dollar deal just for the sake of your pride?"

'So that is what this glumness has been all about since coming back from the hospital' three people thought to themselves.

"You know, Luke, being me and all, I would have probably taken the twenty-five million," Tony said. "And no doubt so would have most people aboard this tug, given the chance."

"Oh," was the only reply that Lucas could muster to that open admission.

Bridger was about ready to burst into the room and kick Tony hard for not saying what Lucas was hoping to hear, until he heard the next sentence.

"But we are not you, Lucas. Don't try and be like the rest of us. That is what sets you apart and makes you better as a person."

"What that I am willing to give up my dream just like that because I freak out over someone using my father's name in the same sentence as mine?"

"No, Luke, because you do care about the things you do. Once you get to people my age and older, we give up on our dreams and rarely give them a second thought. They are not dreams anymore, they become brain farts that we have when he eat too much."

Lucas laughed out loud at that original interpretation, but immediately regretted it as he coughed and his ribs began to throb. Tony waited a minute or two, watching carefully that his friend was doing alright before getting his attention again.

"And don't be afraid of what anybody else says about what you can do. Because as sure as hell the rest of us can't keep up with you on a good day. Let them come to you next time and throw themselves at you for your chip or whatever it is. Make them want to pay double and triple the money because they know that there is nothing else out there like there like your genius mind."

Lucas had no words to say in return for the humbling things that Tony was saying to him. His emotions were not far from the surface.

"Dare to dream, Lucas."

* * *

About ten minutes later, Bridger crept into his own quarters, having listened to the two friends talk for a few more minutes before the room fell into silence.

As he and Kristin approached the bed, he saw the reason for it. Lucas was out like a light, reclined against a large number of pillows behind his back, no doubt helping to ease any pressure off his ribs.

Bridger reached over and took the empty mug out of the teenager's sleep limp hand before it could fall to the floor.

"Whilst they hadn't solved all of the problems tonight, by the relaxed expression on Lucas's features now, the little talk by Tony had gone a long way into helping Lucas understand that he had made the right choice for him and that it didn't matter what other people thought.

"Thank you for everything you did here tonight," Kristin said, placing a second blanket gently over the sleeping form.

"You said some really nice things to Lucas and I think he really appreciated it."

Tony responded by shrugging shoulders in his usual nonchalant manner and heading towards the door, hoping his friend would get some restful sleep. Not wanting any praise for helping a friend.

"Didn't say anything that wasn't true, Doc."

The End

**Author's Notes** **– okay – WAY longer than was originally intended. I had a computer crash and lost some stories, and had to rewrite others. Got carried away with the loose ends and finishing it off. Late as usual, but this story is complete now – I hope you have enjoyed it.**

**Please ignore my medical advice – as it is not correct procedure in most cases. I didn't want to do just a 'take to the hospital and let him come home' chapter. The ending might sound lame, but I wanted the talk to be with Tony not Bridger.**

**I did originally have a scene with Darwin at the moon pool – but have kept that for another time and another story.**

**Other updates coming as soon as I can.**

**I will now be putting all of my stories on my Yahoo Group pages – jbu9715 at – and will give messages when stories are updated or written. So if you want to talk to me at any time, please feel free to join.**

**I will continue to put stories on Fanfiction as well. My author's page contains all upcoming stories if you want to check it out.**

**This story changed direction a few times – and even the ending. It was always intended from the very beginning when I first started writing that the hiding place of the device would not be revealed.**

**The only thing I was never happy with – was the title of this story – I usually choose titles that mean something – and this was one of my poor choices. I don't know what it should have been – but something else.**

**The next story to be updated – not sure – quite a bit written for a couple of them – but not sure yet.**

**Love you to reads and review.**

**JULES**


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